


The Hunter's Heiress

by AmarahOsiris



Category: SPN, Supernatural
Genre: Abandonment, Childbirth, Dean Winchester is an Uncle, Dean is Bad at Feelings, Dean is a Badass uncle, Dean is a Sweetheart, Death, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Hurt Sam, Non-Explicit Sex, Parent Sam Winchester, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Sam Winchester, Sam Has Issues, Sam Winchester is Called Samuel, Sam Winchester is a Father, Single Parents, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Uncle Dean Winchester, Witchcraft, Witches, dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7837885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmarahOsiris/pseuds/AmarahOsiris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cerys and Sam were in a relationship, and they hunted alongside Dean. They were quite the dream team. For unknown reasons, after almost losing her life, Cerys decided to go her separate ways, despite Sam’s protests.  Never knowing why she left him with a broken heart, Sam resented her departure, while still having some kind of care for her. Just when he thinks he’s moved on from that time in his life, a 5-year-old girl shows up claiming to be his daughter. What will the Winchesters make of this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Goodbye I Guess.

**Author's Note:**

> I gave up on my last attempt at a Sam x OC fanfic story. I hit writer's block so hard I couldn't continue. Then I came up with this story. And to make sure I don't hit writer's block again, I actually planned it out. There will be an end to it for sure! Lol  
> But I still work full time so it'll slowly come.  
> Thanks to everyone who's read my previous work! I love you all!

The three of them entered the old abandoned warehouse in the red light district of Chicago. Dean in the lead with his silver gun drawn and at the ready, Sam covering his back with the sawed off shotgun loaded with rock salt rounds, and Cerys covering them both, magical fireballs in hand ready to attack anything in all directions they couldn't see. Her Witch's Senses were picking up a few sounds, but she was listening for signs of life. About 20 feet in front of them, she picked up the sound of brain waves. Demons didn’t have heartbeats so that was the best way to detect them, if you could believe it. Then, she heard more. It took almost no time to acknowledge that they had 4 demons possessing humans, itching to tear their flesh from their bones like hungry pack wolves in a henhouse.

 _“4 of them. Two behind that wall, one towards the east of the building, and one dead ahead.”_ She told the boys telepathically. Sam and Dean both nodded at her and separated. Sam took on the one towards the east, Dean headed straight for the back of the building, and Cerys made her way towards the wall. The boys knew she was more than equipped to take on the two by herself. She raised her hands, and her fireballs flaming brighter, and aimed her left hand at the wall. It burst into an explosive array of flying debris as one of the demons fell to the ground, the demonic essence entrapped in the man’s body poured out of his screaming mouth. But just when she thought it would fly out of the building, the other much larger man stepped out from the wall, and the essence flew into his mouth.

“What?!” Cerys screamed. “How the fuck is that possible?”

The man was now being possessed by two different demons, making him twice as powerful. Cerys now knew she was in trouble.  
On the other side of the building, Sam had just finished laying to waste the demon he cornered, and saw Dean approaching him.

“You send that bastard back to hell?” Sam said, slightly breathless.

“Yeah. Easy as pie.” Dean replied, grinning like he just told the joke of the century. Sam just rolled his eyes. Just then, they heard Cerys scream from the other side of the building, and it made the windows shatter around them.

“CERYS!!” Sam yelled as they both bolted towards the sound.

When they arrived, they found the demon, who looked way too large to be human, holding Cerys by the throat, completely lifting her at least 2 feet off the ground. She struggled with all her might.

“Hang on kiddo, we’re here!” Dean yelled. They both pointed their guns at the monster and shot him. Given his size, they were confident they wouldn’t accidentally hit Cerys. Even though she could heal any kind of wound of illness, being shot still hurt like a bitch.  
But it was all for naught. It just made the monster angry. Anger he decided to take out of Cerys.

 _“I…can’t…use magic…”_ She struggled to telepathically tell the boys. _“Save….me….”_

“Baby hang on!” Sam charged at the monster with the Demon Blade in hand. He let out a battle cry as he plunged it into the monster’s back. The creature wailed in pain as the blade was twisted by Sam’s grip. He managed to snap Cerys’ larynx before throwing her across the building. She slammed into a brick wall, completely knocking her out, pulseless and not breathing.  
The monster tried to turn around to grab Sam, but Dean ran up and shot him point blank between the eyes, dropping him to the ground. The demonic essences escaped his body and exploded in the air above him. The monster was dead. But unfortunately, so was Cerys. Or so it seemed….

**********

“Cerys? CERYS!!” Sam clutched his girlfriend’s lifeless body in his arms, crying out her name. Dean came over and checked her pulse, putting his cheek to her face.

“Sam she’s not breathing. She’s got no pulse. Her windpipe has been crushed.” Dean felt her throat and cringe at the obvious deformity at the front of her neck. He shed a single tear for her. Dean used to hate Cerys because she was a witch, but after saving them a few times and eventually started a relationship with Sam, he’d grown to love her like a sister. She reminded him of Charlie and it always made sense how they were best friends.

“But… she’ll heal, right? I mean, she’s a witch. She can’t die! CERYS, YOU CAN’T DIE ON ME! NOT NOW!” Sam yelled. He continued to sob with her in his arms. He then laid her down and tried to give a rescue breath. But it didn’t go in. He ripped open her top, revealing her chest and started chest compressions.

“Sam, it’s no use. She’s gone.” Dean said through clenched teeth. He was fighting so hard to remain calm.

“NO SHE’S NOT. I CAN SAVE HER.” Sam continued to try and restart her heart. He was counting each compression out loud as he was taught in that CPR class he took. Eventually Dean pulled him off of her. Sam fought his older brother, but it was in vain. “LET ME GO!” He growled.

“NO SAM. LOOK AT HER. SHE’S DEAD.” Dean lost it then. The boys stared at Cerys’ lifeless body for a minute. Then they decided it was time to give her a proper hunter’s wake.  
But then, they heard a snapping sound of cringe worthy standards. They got closer to Cerys and noticed her throat wasn’t injured anymore. It had healed itself. Sam immediately yet gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms once more.

“Cerys?” He searched for her pulse, and relief washed over him like a giant Hawaiian tidal wave as he felt a steady rhythm beneath his index and middle fingers. “Her heart’s beating again!” he exclaimed.

Cerys gasped for air and couched a little as she regained her breath. After her breathing became even again, she opened her eyes and looked right into Sam’s tear filled hazel ones. Her brows furrowed.

“Sam, have you been crying?” She managed to wheeze out.

“Like a fucking baby. The puss.” Dean quirked, trying to wipe away his own tears before she could comment on his crying eyes too. _I’m too manly for this crying bullshit,_ he thought to himself.

“Sure you are” Cerys smirked as she read his thoughts. Dean grimaced as she managed to laugh. Then she hugged Sam, and he hugged her back with all his strength. “I’d prefer you to not re-injure my airway, Sam, thanks.” He blushed slightly and helped her to her feet.

“Can you walk, my dear?” Sam asked.

“If I can heal an injury that’s supposed to be incompatible with life, I think I can walk my way out of here.” Cerys said with a smile. They gathered up their weapons and headed back to the Impala.

********

The drive back to the bunker was a tense one for Cerys. She stayed silent as the boys talked among themselves. Something wasn’t right. Everything that had happened in the last few days, from her and Sam’s passionate love making session from the previous night, to this hunt that killed her, she felt uneasy. She had done many hunts with them before, and dealing with demons wasn’t new, and not to mention she and Sam had long since abandoned the consequences of pre-marital sex, therefore they had it as often as they could. So why did she feel like she needed to take a break? To…stop altogether?

She didn’t know. But she knew if she was going to sort it out in her head, she needed to leave for a while. Far enough away without the boys demanding answers she wasn’t ready to give. So she made up her mind. She would pack up her things and flee. Another something she was accustomed to. Kind of came with being a witch. Not very many people were fond of her kind. Hell, it took Dean a long while to come around to liking her. But still, leaving would be much more painful this time. Seeing as she had a steady relationship with Sam Winchester.

They made it back to the bunker in the late hours of the following day. Everyone was ready to sleep for a week, especially Dean. Without so much as a ‘goodnight’, he went to his room and closed the door behind him. Sam came up to Cerys and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead.

“I dunno about you hon,” he began, yawning slightly. “But I need to get some shut eye. I’m exhausted. You must be too. You did just come back from the dead and all.”  
“Yeah… I guess I am tired too” she said absentmindedly.

“You sure you’re alright? You didn’t say a word in the car and now…you seem troubled. I’m here to listen if you need to talk.” Sam gave her a kind smile.  
Without looking back at him, she replied “No…it’s nothing…really.” Then she looked at him and saw all the love he could possibly display in his eyes. And it broke her heart.

*******

The following morning didn’t start off like Sam was used to. Normally he would wake up, shower, dress, then head downstairs for breakfast. But normally he also woke up with Cerys laying by his side. She ended up moving into his room after the start of their relationship. Her old room ended up being storage but they kept the bedroom get up in the event a wandering hunter needed a place to crash. Sometimes when they fought she would stay in there to give him space. He got up and immediately started looking for her there. The room was empty. Then he went back to his room and noticed the closet door open. And that all of her clothes and her suitcase were gone. Panic started rising inside him.  
He went downstairs, praying she was sleeping on the couch, maybe having a cup of coffee in the kitchen. Both rooms were also empty. At this point, Dean heard the commotion and emerged from his room, shirtless and his hair a mess.

“You trying to redecorate or something, little brother? You woke me up!” He yawned grumpily.

“Dude, she’s gone.” Sam said exacerbated.

“She could’ve stepped out for a walk. She likes to take those in the morning.” Dean headed towards the kitchen to make coffee.

“You think she would pack a bag and take all her belongings with her to go on a fucking walk?” Sam gave his brother his best bitch face before continuing to search for her. He was frantic this time, looking in all rooms, not just the ones Cerys would normally be in.

“But why?” Dean yelled from the kitchen, clearly not awake or caffeinated enough to care. “Why would she just leave? Did y’all get into a fight after I went to bed?”

“No, if we did you would’ve heard things blowing up. We didn’t fight. Hell we didn’t even go to bed together. She said she would come in later. And that was the last time I saw her.” He came back into the kitchen, frustrated, confused, and now worried he may have said or done something to push her out. “Hey, what’s that?” He pointed to a note folded up on the kitchen counter. He pulled it open and Dean and Sam read what was written in Cerys’ beautiful cursive handwriting.

 _Boys,_  
_If you’re reading this, it means that I have left. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I needed to get away. Sort out all these crazy emotions and feelings in my head.  
Don’t go looking for me. It will be a waste of time as I will magically make sure I am not found. If and when the time is right, I will return. But I cannot guarantee that will happen. Consider this my final farewell._

_To Dean, thank you for accepting me for who I am, even though I know you’re not exactly fond of witches. Take care of your brother for me._

_To my beloved Sam, you were the best thing that ever happened to me. You loved me with your whole heart when you didn’t think you were capable of doing that again. And I am forever grateful. I know what you’re thinking. That this is your fault. I can assure you, it isn’t. So please don’t beat yourself up over it._  
_Thank you. For everything. I love you both._

 _Lovingly Sincere,_  
_Cerys Fiona Blake_


	2. Annaryetta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may start taking SPN one shot requests in the future. Stay tuned! Thanks for reading! Love you guys <3 xx

[Cerys' Car](http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2016-chevrolet-camaro-ss-black-accent-package-concept-sema-2015/2016-chevrolet-camaro-ss-black-accent-package-concept-sema-2015-01.jpg)

[Cerys' Eye Color](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs39/i/2008/363/c/1/Silver_Eye_by_Hyper_Child.jpg)

 

Cerys had no idea how she managed to walk far enough and steal a car and money to get as far away from Lawrence, Kansas as she could, but sometimes her own magical capabilities surprise even her. She felt a bit guilty as she never believed in using her abilities for criminal activity. But as they say, desperate times, blah blah blah. A simple yet powerful mind control spell allowed her to walk right into a car dealership and convince the salesman to give her the first thing that was too irresistible to steal. She drove off the lot with a brand new Camaro. Then she managed to walk into a bank and spell her way into $50,000 cash, then wipe everyone’s minds clean of the action. She figured that would be enough money to get her by for a few years. If she lived that long.

Fleeing from an established life was nothing new to her. Except she normally did it without getting too close to anyone. It took everything she had not to drive back to the bunker and surprise the boys, chalk it all up to a horrible prank. But she knew she needed this. Though she still couldn’t determine why. Maybe the why will come to me later on, she thought. For now, she decided to just keep driving west. Maybe head to the California coast.

During her drive, she played back the events of the past week in her head. It was a normal week as far as a hunter’s life goes. But when that fateful hunt caught wind of them, they knew it was going to be a tough one. It was speculated that demons were upping their game in the fight against the Winchesters, especially since they had a witch in tow now. They had somehow managed to find a way to stuff multiple demonic essences into one person. Making them practically indestructible, but their vessels way more disposable. She remembered the conversation she and Sam had in his room the night before their planned attack. They were cuddle up in bed watching a movie. Or at least that’s how it started out.

She remembered lying next to Sam, her head using his chest as a pillow. His heartbeat was a comfort to her, as always. It’s steady rhythm luring her into a peaceful sleep. As if it sang to her in its own special way. He had his hand across her left breast, feeling her own heart pound beneath it. That’s when things got interesting.

“So I think I’m gonna go all cheesy on you Sam.” She said with a chuckle.

“What do you mean?” Sam replied

“This could be out last night on Earth!” She said in the most dramatic drama queen voice she could muster. “Make love to me Sammy!” She placed the back of her hand against her forehead and sighed dramatically, causing Sam to bust out laughing. But he soon made good on her command. He immediately started kissing her lips. Gently at first, then he slowly became more rough. Cerys matched his roughness by shoving her hand up the back of his shirt, feeling his hot skin. It only aroused her more. She began to peel off his shirt from behind, and Sam did the same, all the while their lips not breaking contact.

Soon, they were both nude and getting down. Sam was on top, slowly thrusting his hips into Cerys'. The feeling of him raw inside her only made her more wet. She felt a rush of excitement and grabbed his ass, encouraging him to grind her harder. He did just that. As she felt her orgasm creeping up, Sam was rocking her world hard and fast, bending over to bite her neck. They began to make out while they fucked. The joy of just letting go seemed to please Sam as much as it did Cerys. Then she felt it. They both orgasmed at the same time, moaning and sighing with pure ecstasy and emotion. After his load finished emptying inside her, he pulled out and just laid on top of her. Their heart beat in unison, a strong fast pounding of love and adrenaline. It was…

“Magical.” Cerys finally breathed out after their heart rates had returned to normal. They were still lying in bed. Sam was laying on Cerys’ right side, his head nestled between her breasts, listening to her heart. One arm behind her back, and the other across her waist. Cerys had one arm around his head, stroking his soft brown hair. The other hand was cupping the side of his face. She always loved it when he listened to her heart. She hoped her heartbeat was music to his ears as his was to her.

“You think so?” Sam chuckled. “I think I could’ve done better.”

“Nonsense, my love.” Cerys laughed in response. He could be some funny at times! “I think we hit a new record for fastest, most intense love making ever. We’ve earned some sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Sam nuzzled her chest closer to himself. Then paused and gave her a serious look. “Oh wait…”

They both burst out laughing. A rich hearty laughter that made her feel so…alive. Special. Loved. How the hell did she get so lucky to mate with a guy like Sam? How is it that after all she’s been through, she had earned enough good Karma to warrant ending up with such a kind, loving soul? Especially a kind loving soul that has been to Hell itself and back?

That seemed so long ago now.

**********

Sam didn’t bother sauntering out of bed til well after 2pm. What was the point? The one thing that made him get out of bed every morning, the whole reason he kept fighting on, his motivation and will to live, was long gone. Cerys completely took them all for a loop by leaving. Packing her shit and walking out the door. He’d had nightmares about this. Where was she? Did she take a bus? Or steal a car? Was she eating properly? Did she have a place to stay? How was she paying for it all? Did she take any of the fraudulent credit cards with her? Did she even miss him? And most importantly, why?

Why did she leave? Was her life here not good enough? Did he not love her enough? Did he do or say something to push her away? Was it Dean’s fault? _I mean, he can be ruthless in his taunting and teasing, but he’d never do anything to make her want to leave, would he?_ He knew it was pointless to worry or even question it. The note made it very clear. Not to blame himself. But how can he not? What other reason would cause her to leave? He didn’t know. And he feared he may never know. All these questions in his mind were giving him a headache. No point in laying around now. He got up, threw on a t-shirt and pair of sweat pants and made his way downstairs. He found Dean sitting at the big table in the middle of the dining room, reading over some books and sipping coffee. Sam slowly poured himself a mug and sat down across from his older brother.

“Well good morning sunshine.” Dean said in the most cheerful voice he could muster. He wasn’t exactly happy to see Cerys go himself. But he seemed to be handling it way better than his little brother. It wasn’t like he was sleeping with her.

“Bite me.” Sam spat back in annoyance.

“Okay not very friendly.” Dean responded, getting up from his seat to refill his coffee mug. “C’mon man it’s been 2 weeks. I’m not happy she’s gone either. But we need to get back to life dude. There are hunts I’ve been putting off to give you some time.” He came back and saw Sam’s scowl deepen.

“Don’t talk about her like that.” Sam said through clinched teeth.

“Like what?”

“Like she’s never coming back.”

“She would’ve come back by now!” Dean raised his voice slightly. “She packed her shit and left. She made her choice and is gone now.”

“Yeah but why? That’s what I can’t wrap my grapefruit around. Why did she leave? What did we do to make her leave?” Sam said that last sentence with sadness.

“Dude, I dunno. But at this point, we’ll never know. We need to move on. I know it’s hard but-”

“Do you?”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Do you know what it’s like to lose something you love that suddenly? Because I don’t think you do.” Sam immediately regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth.

“You wanna start that shit again? Fine. How many fucking times did you walk out and not come back for months at a time? Huh? Don’t even play that shit with me, Sammy. You WILL lose.” Dean was glaring at Sam now. And Sam knew he deserved it. He was breaking the “3rd Rule” as Cerys used to say.

 _“Witch’s Third Rule: Passion Rules Reason. Letting one’s emotions and feelings dictate all rational thought and action.”_ Cerys lived by those 10 Witch’s Rules. And she so frequently mentioned them that the boys had unintentionally started living by those rules alongside her. Sam could now recite each rule and their meaning. As well as recognize when he broke one. Or more than one. Dean was right. She had made her choice, unbeknownst to them, to leave. And she wasn’t coming back.

It was time to move on. Though Sam knew it was going to be extremely difficult.

*********

She didn’t know when it had started, but she was sick. She couldn’t keep anything down. Eventually it became unbearable. She stopped going anywhere, stayed in bed all day. Vomiting, nausea, and the urge to piss every 5 fucking minutes. She eventually stopped eating most of her favorite unhealthy foods. Loaded cheeseburgers, fries, chicken sandwiches, even Vietnamese food, something her and Sam loved to indulge in whenever Dean wasn’t around to make fun of them for it, completely turned her off. The only thing she could stomach was water and lettuce. After a few weeks of this, she knew there was something seriously wrong. Then it hit her.

“When was my last period?”

_Oh shit._

**********

Cerys was sitting in a rocking chair at the little apartment she rented in Colorado City, watching the birds outside her windowsill, lovingly stroking her now 8 months along pregnant belly. The colorful autumn leaves were beginning to fall from the tall trees above. It had been extremely rough. She had to continue using her mind control spell to keep the money coming in since she had no other skills to maintain a job. She also had no health insurance so the free women’s center clinic was where she was receiving all her prenatal care. She knew absolutely nobody too. It was just her, and this little life growing inside her. A little life that was also part Sam’s.

Sam.  
She sighed, feeling the baby kick around a bit.

It had been over 9 months since she last saw him. She didn’t bother calling him when that stick soaked in her piss turned up a blue plus sign. She didn’t let him know that their baby’s heartbeat was as strong and steady as his own. She didn’t plan on telling him that he was going to be a father, and not to worry about raising it as she would take it on herself. Nor did she ever plan to tell him that this was the inevitable reason why she left. Though she didn’t know it at the time. Before she even knew she was with his child, her body, mind, heart, and soul told her she had to leave. Because…. Who would want a child to grow up in the life of a hunter’s?

Sam always talked about how he wished his childhood was different. How he wished he’d had a more “normal” life as a kid. Though she always shook it off at the time, she understood now. The things that even she dealt with as a Witch on her own before the Winchester brothers came into her life were too horrendous to even begin to explain to a fully grown adult, let alone a child. How could John Winchester raise those boys in this life? How were they not more screwed up than they already were? She couldn’t fathom it. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones talking, but she was certain of one thing.

This child would know who its father is. But from a distance. This child cannot know the life a Hunter lives. She would make damn fucking sure it didn’t.  
Sam was a good man. And probably would make a great dad. No. He would make a terrific father to any child she bore for him. But she was not about to ask him to desert the life that he had tried and failed to leave behind once again. He cannot have a normal apple pie life. And therefore, it was in her best interest as well as the child’s to stay away. Was it painful? Yes. Would it be difficult once the child was old enough to start asking questions, like ‘why do those kids have a daddy and I don’t?’ Absolutely. But she knew it was for the best.

There was no turning back now. She was going to be a single mother. But she was going to be the best damn single mother the world was capable of producing. After all, she had magic on her side.

“That’s it, _ai mela._ ” She bent over slightly to look at her belly, continuing to pet it. She occasionally spoke in traditional Elven tongue, as spellcraft often required. _Ai mela_ meant 'little love'. “I’m going to make sure you’re the best Witch this world has ever seen! I’ll teach you all I know. I’ll show you all the good magic has, can, and will do for this place we call Earth. But also show you how much destruction it can cause when used wrong. I’ll make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as I made in my youth. Everything is going to be alright.”

*********

It was a cold, snowy night a few days before Thanksgiving. The roads were slick with ice but not too many cars were out on the road given how close it was to the holidays. Everyone was with their families. Everyone except Cerys, as she was about to produce her own.

Her screams filled the entire labor and delivery ward. The pain was more than all the times she’d been stabbed, shot, cursed, and tortured, all combined. She knew childbirth was going to be extremely painful, but to prefer being tortured by Witch Hunters? Not likely.

“You’re doing great, Ms. Blake. Keep up this pattern and baby will be here before you know it!” The nurse assisting the obstetrician delivering her child coached her on. Mrs. Bakers was the best nurse she could’ve ever asked for to assist in delivering her baby. She had been the one who recommended the clinic to begin with when she noticed Cerys buying pregnancy tests at the drug store all those months ago, sick and depressed. It was Mrs. Bakers that held her hand through every fetal exam, laughed with her as the gel used on the ultrasound machines tickled her bare belly, and wiped her tears when she spilled her heart out about the child’s father whom said child would never know in person. She’d been there with her throughout the entire pregnancy. She almost considered her family. Almost.

“Now…PUSH!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Cerys’ screams made the clock on the wall shatter into a thousand pieces and the lights flicker. Though everyone wanted to take the time to have a “WTF” moment, there was no such time. After that last push, suddenly all of the pain was gone. Cerys’ body was completely relaxed and no longer in turmoil. Then, the most joyous and beautiful sound filled the room. The crying of a newborn. Her newborn.

“It’s a girl!” The doctor exclaimed. And everyone in the room cheered for the new mother and baby.

And at the same time as the baby breathed her first breath of life, almost 600 miles away in Lawrence, Kansas, Sam Winchester was abruptly torn from his sleep. He sat bolted upright in his bed, swearing to Chuck that he’d heard someone scream out his name. He was sweating and panting, startled, his heart pounding hard in his chest. He placed a hand over it, feelings its strong feverish beats.

“What the hell….” After his heart calmed down and his breathing evened out, he managed to shrug it off. He laid back down and went back to sleep.

***********

Cerys was breastfeeding her newborn daughter, the glow of motherhood radiating like warm spring sunshine. She felt like she was holding the world in her arms, nourishing her in the most natural way possible. It was beautiful. And it just felt… _right_.

“So, pretty Mama!” Mrs. Bakers chimed in as she walked into the room. She bent over the monitors to check Cerys’ vital signs. “The only thing that seems to be missing is this little princess’ name. Given it any thought?”

“I have.” Cerys said without looking up. She didn’t want to miss any moment of direct eye contact with her new angel. “I didn’t want to say anything out loud, but I thought of a name as soon as the doctor announced she was a girl.”

“Oh really? Well do tell! Not just because I wanna be the first lucky lass to hear it, but it’s also gonna be needed for paperwork and the birth certificate.”

“Annaryetta. Annaryetta Millie.”

Mrs. Bakers gasped in awe. “Oh my, what a lovely name! So unique! And many opportunities for nicknames! Heh, let me grab my pad and pen so I can jot it down!” She said cheerfully as she reached into her scrubs’ pocket for said items. Cerys made sure it was all spelled correctly as Mrs. Bakers wrote it down. “And what will be Miss Annaryetta’s surname? I assume Blake?”

“No.” Cerys’ covered up her breast and began to burp Annaryetta. Once the little princess squeaked one out, she promptly fell asleep in her mother’s arms. Then she looked at Mrs. Bakers square in the eyes.

“Winchester.”

Mrs. Bakers gave her a suspicious look. “That’s her father’s last name, isn’t it?”

“It is. Something tells me it’s the right thing to do. So she always knows who she comes from.”

“Are you sure honey?” The experienced nurse gave her a concerned yet caring look. “From what you’ve told me about that boy, it does seem you guys have somewhat of a…troubling past….”

“True but it was the best time of my life. I can never properly thank Sam for the life he gave me while in Kansas. At least the Winchester legacy will continue to live on in this precious baby girl. After all, this child is his too. Even though it’s not safe for them to know each other.”

“Well, if that’s what you feel is best, who am I to critique? I assume you would like to list Samuel Winchester as the baby’s father?”

“Yes. Just in case, you know?”

“Of course, my dear. Congratulations again. I’ve aided in delivering many babies in my career, but I have to say, yours is the most beautiful. I feel she is destined for great things.”

**************

Annaryetta “Rita” Millie Winchester. Born November 21st at 11:24pm. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring in at 21 and ¾” long.  
Unbeknownst to any of them, she would have her mother’s hair color of raven black. And a combination of her parent’s eyes. One silver, and one hazel. A rare trait in humans, though a more common trait among Witches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this chapter immediately after I posted the first one but fell asleep. Then I had to work lol. I'm glad I finally got it up! Let me know what you think! And as always give this story a kudos if you enjoyed it!
> 
> \---------------  
> Backstory on Mrs. Bakers:  
> She is actually based off of the nurse who assisted my OB in delivering my son. She was his right hand RN and was such an awesomely badass person that I wanted to take her with me when we moved military bases. I still miss her to this day. Though sadly, I've forgotten her name. But to be fair, my son will be 5 in October and I'm terrible at remembering names lol.


	3. This Is Normal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita is now 5 years old and lives a pretty normal kindergartner's life for being a witch in training. Colors, shapes, healing and tracking spells. Cerys finally believes their lives are going exactly the way they should be going. But when Rita starts getting curious about her father and his whereabouts, how will her mother handle it?
> 
> This chapter focuses on Rita and Cerys' interactions. Only mentions Dean and Sam as Rita's uncle and father. Thanks for staying with me this long! Love you all!! xx

[Picture of Sam that belongs to Cerys and Rita](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/18100000/Jared-Padalecki-sam-winchester-18167681-500-424.jpg)

 

Rita is now a very vibrant and intelligent 5-year-old little girl. She has medium length black hair, a lanky build, and tall for a child her size. She spoke well too advanced for a 5-year-old. Sometimes it was like speaking to a 10-year-old. But it’s her eyes that everyone always noticed first. Her left eye is silver, like her mother’s. A witch’s trait, Cerys explained. But her right eye is strikingly hazel, bold and obvious. She could only assume she got that from her father. A man her mother said was named Sam. Samuel Winchester. She only had a few pictures to know what he looked like. And none of them contained a photo of him and Cerys together. She was also training to become a powerful witch. Her mother always told her she was “destined to do great things for this world.” And that she would teach her to be the best of the best.

Rita was getting off the school bus after school one breezy afternoon. It was around the time that winter was turning into spring so some of the Colorado snow was starting to melt, though it didn’t have much luck given it was still 40 degrees outside. She made the short walk from the bus stop to the apartment her and Cerys shared. Up 3 flights of stairs to their front door on the 4th floor and she was home. Cerys hated having people live above her. Also less likely they would be disturbed, by either neighbors or robbers. Plus, the rent was slightly cheaper that way. They needed all the seclusion they could get. Goddess only knew who, or what, was capable of coming after them. Cerys wasn’t the most popular of her kind, but she was among the most powerful. She’d made her fair share of enemies and being close to the Winchesters didn’t help matters.

“I’m home! Mama?” Rita called out as she slipped her rain boots off and sat them beside the front door.

 _“Ceádmil, ai mela!”_ Cerys called from the back room in typical Elven tongue, which meant _Greetings, little love._ She came out wearing an apron that read “Don’t Kiss the Cook or She’ll Hex You!” below a giant pentacle. It was over her top, skinny jeans and a pair of knee high work boots. Cerys always wore all black. She wasn’t too fond of bright colors in her wardrobe. Rita was the opposite. When she wasn’t in her school uniform, she wore lots of bright pinks, blues, and purples. Cerys didn’t mind. A child should never be robbed of their individual style. “How was school?”

“It was fine.” Rita said as she went to the fridge to grab a snack. Freshly sliced apples and homemade papaya and grape juice. Cerys was proud that she instilled healthy eating habits in her daughter, though she had developed some peculiar tastes. It was something that Sam instilled into her. She had a horrible diet when she met the boys and it contributed to a lot of her health problems. Although minor, they can wreak havoc on a hunter. Sam was a blessing when he showed her how he stayed in such good shape. “Colors and shapes mostly. I am really good at writing the word ‘orange’ in Hebrew.”

“Why were you writing in Hebrew, darling?” Cerys asked, wiping crystal dust onto her apron.

“I don’t know. It just came to me. I wasn’t aware it wasn’t English until Mrs. Fitz told me it wasn’t.” Rita replied, taking a bite of her apple slice. Come to think of it, she pondered, this isn’t the first time I’ve written in another language. I wonder if that’s part of the magical powers I have. She pushed the thought in the back of her mind, savoring the tart of the Fuji apple slice in her mouth.

“It is part of your power, _me ai mela._ ” Cerys said. Rita gave her a confused look. “And part of my power, I can read minds. Specifically, yours. We are linked by blood after all. So there’s a stronger connection.”

“Why must you do that?” Rita protested, taking a drink of her juice.

“Because I’m your mother and I can. Get used to it, _wedd._ ” Cerys said with a smile and a wink. Rita stuck her tongue out at her mother, in which she returned the cheeky move. Cerys knew her daughter meant no disrespect, as she could sense such emotions. “Finish your snack, then we can get to working on the things I know you prefer over colors and shapes.”

“Yes ma’am.” Rita had that usual sudden burst of excitement. She loved practicing magic with her mother. They did it every afternoon after school, resting on the weekends and traditional Pagan holidays. They started out with the basics, learning the Elder Speech, which was what all spells were recited in where her mother came from, contrary to the Latin and Enochian spells the boys and Castiel tended to use. If ever Rita were to meet her father, Cerys would leave it up to him to decide whether or not to teach her Latin spellwork.

But that was an impossibility at this point.

“Well, you seem to have become very versed in Elder Speech. What do you have to say for yourself, ai mela?” Cerys said after closing up an old dusty book.

 _“Va'esse deireádh aep eigean, va'esse eigh faidh'ar”_ Rita replied in almost perfect form. Cerys was highly impressed and extremely proud that her daughter was speaking to her in Elder Speech.

“You’re right, _ai mela._ Something is indeed ending and beginning.” Cerys said.

“What’s that?” Rita asked.

“I think we can officially close the chapter on the _Hen llinge._ How would you like to learn some spells?” Cerys answered. Rita’s eyes lit up with excitement. Although she swore she saw a faint glow in them. She beamed with pride once more.

“Really Mama? Let’s do it! Please I wanna learn how to track things!” Rita was bouncing up and down now. In her excitement, she noticed her mother’s slightly confused look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Cerys said “I just think it’s interesting that you wanna learn something so…specific.”

“Well,” Rita began “One day I’d… I’d like to go find my dad. Wouldn’t tracking be a good spell to learn for that?”

Cerys froze in place. She knew this day would come. The day where little Annaryetta would start asking about Sam. She’d been mentally prepared for this since the day Rita’s birth. Cerys was sure she had noticed that most of the children in her class had a mommy and a daddy at home. But she never seemed to mind being the only one without a father. She always appreciated being different and it was more of a blessing than her daughter realized. She had an idea as to how to answer most questions, and she knew Rita wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss for the questions she couldn’t answer, but that didn’t make the task any less daunting.

“Mama whatcha thinking?” Rita snapped her mother out of her train of thought. Cerys cleared her throat and smiled warmly at her child.

“That is quite a challenge, you know.” Cerys began. “Your father is a very hard man to find. Especially now.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he travels a lot. For work. He’s never in one place for more than a few days. He also makes sure his tracks are covered. He’s gotten very good at that over the years. He could be here in Colorado City and we wouldn’t even know it.”

Cerys looked upon the sad look Rita gave the floor. She knew the truth would be hard on any 5-year-old, but she also knew that her daughter was capable of handling more than the average kid. She was a Winchester, after all. By blood, and by spirit.

“But I will tell you this.” Cerys continued. Rita looked at her. Was that a tear in her eye? _Goddess, I hope not._ “If he knew you, he would love you just as much as I do. Without a doubt.”

“Tell me about him again, Mama. From the beginning!” Rita grabbed a chair and sat down, eager for story time. Cerys did the same.

“You’ve heard the story a thousandfold, _ai mela!_ ” Cerys exclaimed “And we need to focus on lessons! Before I have to start cooking dinner.”

“But Mama! I wanna hear it again! Pleeeeeeease!” Rita whined. Cerys detested when she whined like a common child. But she patiently reminded herself that despite who and what she was, she was still a 5-year-old girl and acted like that sometimes.

Okay, most of the time.

“Very well. We still have some daylight left. And…I suppose lessons can wait til tomorrow.” Cerys gave in. She smiled at her daughter’s happiness.

“What is his name again? What does he do? Who is he?” Rita was bouncing in her chair with excitement.

“Wow no holds bar, I see. Very well,” Cerys took a deep breath. She always got butterflies in her stomach at the thought of him. She remembered all the old feelings she felt whenever she would look him in the eyes. It made her swell with pride. “His name is Samuel Winchester. Everyone calls him Sam, though. Except his brother Dean. Dean calls him Sammy. Despite Sam hating it.” She ended that last sentence with a chuckle.

“So, Dean would be my uncle?”

“Correct. Your Uncle Dean and dad are like us. They use certain abilities to rid the world of all the dark and evil things in the world. Though they don’t use magic. They use more human created weapons.”

“I see. Go on!” Rita exclaimed.

“Your father is many things,” Cerys continued, “He’s tall, strong, and he’s got brown hair. It was kinda short last time I saw him. It may be longer now if he kept up his trend of growing it out. He always said he hated haircuts.” Cerys said with a smile, causing Rita to laugh. I guess she thinks it’s funny for a boy to have long hair. If she could only see Sam now…. “He’s also got hazel colored eyes. But one thing is definitely for certain. He’s a hero. This world would not exist if it wasn’t for him and your Uncle Dean. They have been Earth’s saviors in more ways than can be counted. They have both literally gone to Hell and back to save us all.”

“Wow. My daddy, a hero!” Rita exhaled. “So… if he’s such a great person. Why isn’t he here? Why doesn’t he know who I am?”

“Well… it’s complicated.” Cerys said. Then she looked at Rita with determination. “Darling, what is our number one rule?”

“No secrets. All truths.”

“Exactly. So you know I would never lie to you, especially when it comes to your dad. But you must understand some things.” Cerys took another deep breath, trying to steady her pounding heart. Talking about Sam always made her heart race. “A lot of things happened that caused me to leave your dad before I even knew I was with child with you. A lot of things that are very hard to explain to a child. Now I know you’re not like most children. There is a legacy that comes with being a Winchester. A name and honor you must uphold. With that, I believe you are entitled to know things that other children your age might not be able to handle. I can’t explain it all right now, and you will learn it all in due time. So I will tell you all that I think a smart sassy 5-year-old Winchester would be able to get. You feel me?”

“I feel you!” Rita said. She held out her fist for her mother to bump, which Cerys gladly accepted.

“Your father is a Hunter. Not the kind of hunter that goes after Witches like us, but he hunts down demons and dark forces on a daily basis. A job like that is very dangerous. Your father and uncle have died and been rescued on multiple occasions doing their jobs.” _And I have died on several occasions just being in their company,_ she thought to herself, praying Rita didn’t develop her telepathic abilities anytime soon. “When you were born,” Cerys continued, taking yet another deep breath. She was starting to wonder if she was telling her daughter too much, but pressed on anyway. Better to learn about it now than to find out the hard way later on in life. “I made the decision to keep you away from that. I felt it was better to teach you how to deal with the darkness in this world the way I know best.”

“With magic!”

“Exactly,” Cerys chuckled. “But there are many spells and wards that keep us hidden from the world. That gives us an edge. It allows us to prepare ourselves and protect ourselves, so that if something does come along and wants to hurt us, we’ll be as ready as we possibly can.”

“Do you think Daddy would like that? That you kept me away from him for my own safety?”

“I think your dad would appreciate my protectiveness. He was always protective of me. And he’s very protective of your uncle, despite being 4 years younger. If he knew who you were, he would love you so very much and protect you as he protected me.”

“But,” Rita took it all in, and surprisingly, completely understood everything that was being told to her. But she still had one question. One that she’d never asked her mother. “How do you know he’d love me if he’s never met me?”

Cerys pondered on that thought. She wanted to find a way to explain to her without making it too complicated. Then she had an idea. “Come here, daughter. Sit on my lap.”  
Rita jumped out of her chair and crawled into her mother’s lap as told. Cerys took her daughter’s hand and placed it beneath her shirt, onto her chest.

“You feel that?”

“Yeah. It’s your heartbeat, mama.”

“Even though I’m not with your father right now, I still love him very much. I never stopped loving him. Because he’s right here. Feel how my heart beats faster when I talk about him?”

Rita paused for a moment, then removed her hand and placed her head over her mother’s chest. “I can hear it now. And yeah. It’s pretty fast mama.”

“That’s proof right there that I love him still. After all these years, my love for him never left my heart. And because of the love he had for me, he gave me you. The most precious gift of all. My heart has so much love for the both of you. A strong heartbeat always shows off one’s love for another.” She cuddled her Rita in her arms while she listened to her heart. “But now that the fun story time has passed, I must tell you something very important.”

Rita looked up from her position and into her mother’s bright silver eyes. “What’s that?”

“This is very serious so I need you to listen carefully. If anything ever happens to me, anything at all. If your instincts tell you something is wrong, always listen to them. If something happens to me, you will need to find your father for sure.”

“Why?” Rita’s expression grew serious. Was Mama expecting something to happen to her? In the name of Michael, I hope not! She thought, hoping her mother wasn’t listening to her thoughts again.

“Because Sam will know what to do. Not only for me. But for you as well. Remember that. Understand?”

 _“Ar ndóigh”_ Rita replied in Elder Speech.

“Wonderful!” Cerys said, getting up from her chair. She looked outside and noticed it was dusk. Had that story really taken that long to tell? I guess so, since they went over things not previously discussed. “Well it looks like we’re out of daylight. Wanna help me make dinner? I was thinking avocado chicken tacos.”

“My favorite!” Rita shouted.

“That’s my girl! We shall cover tracking spells tomorrow. Let’s go see if we need to hit the grocery store.” And with that, Cerys and Rita left the Craft room, hand in hand.

******

That night, they ended up needing to go to the store as the avocados they found were rotten. So they walked to the small farmer’s market down the street and picked up some fresh ones, as well as baby tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and also picked up a freshly baked apple pie from the bakery for dessert. Dean, you’d be proud your niece loves pie! Cerys thought as they walked back home. They ate dinner almost as quickly as they’d made it. Each of them had a small slice of pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Then they headed to bed. But that night, Rita was the only one who slept peacefully.

********

She was chained to a tall metal support beam, which was odd considering she appeared to be in an underground cave. She had cuts and bruises, and she also believed she was concussed. Her vision was blurry. She could barely make out the pool of blood at her feet. Her own blood. Panic rose inside her along with her heart rate. Where the fuck was she?  
Then she saw it. _That damn thing should be fucking dead! We wasted it! No. This was impossible. HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT EATING DIRT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!_

_**I’m coming for you, Witch. Better be ready. YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME THIS TIME! EVERYONE YOU LOVE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SAVE YOU. YOU** WILL **MEET YOUR DEMISE IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** _

A flash of light hit her like a ton of bricks. She bolted upright in her own bed, breathing hard. She looked around, seeing her alarm clock read 3am, then searched her body to make sure she wasn’t injured. Not finding anything to suggest she’d been attacked, she relaxed and laid back down. _Gods Damnit,_ she thought. _These nightmares are gonna be the death of me. How many nights does this make? Three? Fuck me…. Sam._ Tears welled up in her eyes. _It’s nights like these that make me wish I’d never left…_

********

Cerys never went back to sleep. So she decided to meditate until it was time to get Rita ready for school. She always picked the same spot for her meditations, as it gave her enough room to float as she did. It wasn’t something she could help. The power that meditation brings naturally lifts her off the ground. She learned to accept it a long time ago, as she preferred to actually ground herself with the Earth when she meditated.

When 7am finally rolled around, she went to the Keurig machine to make herself a cup of hazelnut flavored coffee. She was already showered, dressed, and ready for the day. All she had to do was make sure Rita was the same. But when she took a sip of her coffee, a sleepy, messy haired little princess emerged from her room, yawning widely and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She was wearing her favorite Batman pajamas set. She wasn’t sure when she’d discovered a liking to the classic comic book series, but Cerys knew Dean would highly appreciate her daughter’s taste. She had a robe on that fit her perfectly over that. There was an anti-possession patch sewn into most of her clothes. You could never be too careful these days.

“Well good morning, _ai mela._ ” Cerys approached her daughter, hugged and kissed her on top of the head. “Was just about to come wake you from your slumber.”

“I thought I’d save you the trouble” Rita yawned again. “Besides, that coffee smells really good. Can I have some too?”

“Oh no honey, I think you have more than enough energy to spare the world. You don’t need coffee.” Cerys laughed. “C’mon, let’s go get you ready for school.”

Within a half hour, Rita was waving at her mother from her seat on the school bus. Cerys smiled and waved back, then emptied her coffee mug and headed back up the stairs. But before she reached the front door, she felt it.

_Oh shit._

A dark lingering energy radiated out from the apartment and touched her soul. She looked all around the hallway and made sure nobody could see her before she extended her right hand and displayed her signature attack power: the fireball.

She used her left hand to push the door open telekinetically. She was now on the offensive. Something was here. Something had breached the safety of her home. And it wasn’t leaving alive. She listened real hard for any signs of life. Breathing. Heartbeat. Brain waves. Anything that would indicate an intruder. But she heard none. She made a quick sweep of the apartment. Staring in the living room, she teleported to each bedroom, bathroom, nook and cranny she could before declaring the house void of any physical threat. Now that that was out of the way, she needed to find where the source of the dark energy was coming from. She made her fireball dissipate and closed the door. But then she turned around and was face to face with it. Staring at her right in the eyes with an all too familiar stare.

“YOU!” She whispered dangerously, her eyes wide and glowing.

But before she could release a fireball to defend herself, she was hit with a bright white light, similar to the one in her dream. She dropped her coffee mug on the tile right in front of the carpeted living room, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Then everything went black.

*****

Rita hopped off the bus, waving goodbye to her friends. She was in a very cheerful mood. She was looking forward to heating up a slice of that delicious apple pie from the previous night, and the ice cream that went with it would satisfy a craving for something sweet she’d been stuck with all day. She didn’t usually like to eat unhealthy foods. Mom always said to treat your body like a temple and its power would serve her well as a reward. But she also said that everything in moderation keeps you sane.  
But she would never get to enjoy it. When she opened the front door, she noticed it was unlocked. That’s odd. Mama always locks the door. That was her first clue that something was wrong. She walked through the threshold and stepped on what sounded like broken glass. She looked down at her shoes and saw Cerys’ coffee mug shattered. She gasped.

“Mama?! MOM!” She shouted as she started running through the apartment, desperately looking for Cerys. When she came up empty, she sat on the couch and started to cry. “Where did you go? I’m scared. Help me! I’m all alone!” She cried for a good while before she realized that this wasn’t normal. Not at all. She knew even in her young age that Mom was always home when she came back from school. She knew someone had taken her mother.

She knew what she needed to do next too.

She ran to her mother’s bedroom. On top of the dresser was a small locked box dressed in black velvet.

“I know Mama keeps the key somewhere around here.” She pondered and realized that she might be able to find it. If she could remember what it looked like. She closed her eyes and filled her vision with nothing but a small black key with a blue ribbon tied to the top. She put her will into her intent. _Find the key. Find the key. FIND THE KEY!_ When she opened her eyes, she saw the key she envisioned floating in front of her. She’d just performed her very first tracking spell. All by herself with no training at all. How could she’ve been trained? They were to start her first lesson that afternoon. Her excitement was short lived. She took the key and immediately unlocked the box. Normally Cerys would punish Rita for going through her things, but Rita had a feeling that her mother would forgive her in due time.

She opened the box to reveal a couple of personal items that her mother kept hidden. Things that she knew right away could never be replaced if lost or stolen. A small pocket knife with the initials S.W. scratched into, a heart shaped locket with a picture of a tiny infant Rita inside. A piece of flannel fabric that smelled heavily of men’s cologne, and a three-by-five-inch photo of a handsome young man with brown hair that came down to about mid-neck, piercing hazel eyes, a prominent jawline accented with a slight cleft in the chin, and right away she knew who the man was.

“Daddy.” Rita breathed. She could definitely see what her mother saw in him. He was extremely handsome and looked much too young to be the father of a 5-year-old. _But then again, Mama did say she hadn’t seen him since before I was born, so maybe he’s changed?_

She assumed that the flannel cloth was once a shirt that belonged to her dad. She now knew exactly how she was going to spell her way into finally meeting the man who was her father. She was going to find him even if it put her life in danger.

Wherever he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if anyone reading this plays The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, or has read the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski, then you probably know some of the Elder Speech referenced and, in a way, is a tribute to the best video game I've ever played. But to those who don't, I've provided some translations for you!
> 
> Ceádmil: Greetings  
> Wedd: Child  
> Me Ai Mela: my little love  
> Hen llinge: Elder Speech  
> Va'esse deireádh aep eigean, va'esse eigh faidh'ar: Something ends, something begins.  
> Ar ndóigh: Of course (this one actually is straight up Irish Gaelic. I'm 95% Irish and I have cousins still living in Dublin. Figured I'd pay homage to my heritage too lol)


	4. Finding Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Cerys missing, it's up to Rita to find her. And following her mother's advice, she attempts to track down her father and uncle. But will their reaction to discovering her existence complicate things?

Water dripped onto her head. Other than that and the sound of her breathing, silence filled wherever she was. It took a long time for Cerys to realize that she was alive. As if the excruciating pain all over wasn’t indication enough. She blinked a few times to make out her surroundings. But the darkness was making it extremely difficult. She decided to use her night vision to make it easier, but she realized she couldn’t. Her magic was being blocked out somehow. Then she looked down and noticed she was shackled, but not just with any regular shackles. These were made of the-

“Purest iron.” A voice bellowed out from the shadows. She quickly turned her head all around to see where the ominous voice was coming from, but it _hurt._ Not just from the apparent pain, but her neck was also shackled in place. Then she made a horrible realization.

She was shackled to a torture table of some kind. And she was completely naked. Her breasts and vagina were the only things being covered. Each limb was bound in iron, hard and cold. Suddenly, an iron gag appeared out of nowhere and gagged her. So now she could neither speak, move, nor magically defend herself. _Fucking lovely._

“I bet you’re wondering who I am. That is…disappointing. How could you forget me? Of course, I’m sure I’m not the first demon overlord you’ve slew in your time. Cerys.” She froze. How did it know her name? Who the fuck was this? Why couldn’t she remember? Then all the memories came back and her heart went cold. The dark energy. The figure in her home. The bright light. She remembered being knocked out. But she didn’t remember being beaten within an inch of her life before being chained up in the purest of iron, which serves as an anti-magic conduit. Some witches are straight up deathly allergic to manmade iron. Cerys was fortunate to not be, but the chains made her completely…human. She had cuts, bruises, puncture and bite wounds all over her body. And she could feel every single one of them. No magic to dull the pain. It was excruciating.

The figure stepped out into the only light dimly shining above her. And the fear deep inside her only got worse. And it showed all over her face as Abduxuel, one of Crowley’s former lieutenants, stepped into her line of vision. All he did was laugh at her expression.

“You DO remember me! Ahh how wonderful! Good thing too. I _hate_ introductions. Especially towards…beings who should know perfectly well who I am. Now, to the matter at hand.” He clapped his hands together, and picked up an Angel Blade. Without hesitation, he jabbed straight into her collarbone. Cerys screamed as loud as she could into the gag but it was difficult.  
“Oh my, there seems to be a…communication problem!” He said with a smile. “I do prefer to have my guests inform me of my performances.” He snapped his fingers and the gag disappeared. Within half a heartbeat, Cerys put all of her will into her agonizing screams. They made the cave they were in shudder.  
“There we go! You must be _really_ enjoying this if it makes my humble abode shake in your fury!” He clapped and smiled like a child who just got a present. Child….

 _Rita._ _Holy fucking shit, where is Rita?!_

“LET ME GO YOU SICK FUCK! WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!” Cerys managed to scream out. At this point she didn’t care about herself. She could die for all she cared. But if he had laid a single fingerprint on Annaryetta, he would _pay._ She also knew that by now, Rita had discovered she was gone, and was already making preparations to make good on getting help. The help that she had specifically instructed her to do the night before she disappeared. She was thankful she’d told Rita when she did. Otherwise she would probably be a lot more panicky.

“Now, now, there’s no need to shout. I’m standing right here, darling. Little Annie is fine. Although I do hope you taught her how to cook. She’s probably hungry right now. What kind of mother teaches her kids magical spells but not how to properly take care of themselves as a being? Oh well, I’ve come to expect less from the likes of _your kind._ ”

Cerys managed to spit in his face. And it was acidic as part of his face starting sizzling and he screamed. “If one hair on her head is so much as touched, I will incinerate everything you love!” she growled through clenched teeth. It was all she could do from screaming more and potentially caving in this tunnel dwelling.

“You won’t get that chance, bitch.” Abduxuel snarled. His usual flamboyant façade was gone. Now before her was the demon she knew all too well. She really made him angry and she was going to feel his wrath in more ways than one. Just like before.

About a year ago, Sam, Dean and Cerys had caught wind of young women being sacrificed, mutilated and tortured before being beheaded. They had gone to investigate but upon learning who the demon was, Sam and Dean demanded that Cerys stay behind on this hunt, given she fit the demon’s preference of victims. But she knew that her magic would aid them and ultimately won the argument. Good thing too, because Dean, being the pretty boy that he was, caught Abduxuel’s eye, was lured into being his next victim. It turned out Abduxuel was gay, and the story behind all the vics being women was a cover for his sexuality. He honestly believed that Crowley would have a problem with it. Amateur. For being the King of Hell’s lieutenants, he sure didn’t know his commander very well. Before Dean was beheaded, Sam and Cerys managed to waste Abduxuel away, stopping the killings. Or so they thought. Turns out, when he dissipated, he merely materialized elsewhere and went into hiding. Crowley wasn’t too fond of the Winchesters and their witchy sidekick at the time and Abduxuel feared for his life. He burrowed himself into an abandoned mining shaft in the mountains of Colorado Springs. Until he’d learned that the witch in his would-be-slayer’s group had established herself out there. He devised a plan to exact his revenge.

“I’m going to make you wish you’d never met those fucking hunters. No! Even better. I’m going to make you wish you’d never been born. And after I’m done with you, I’m going to find everyone YOU love, and do the exact same thing. You will cease to be a figment of anyone’s imagination. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CROSS A LIEUTENANT OF HELL!”

And with that notion, he stabbed her again, this time in the neck, causing her to puke up blood and lose consciousness once more.

*************

Rita had just gotten done packing a bag. Some clothes, bathing supplies, and snacks for the journey. She still had no idea how she was going to get to wherever Sam was, but she did know how to find him. It was a start.

“I think I have everything I need. Hopefully Dad and Uncle Dean can help with sending me back when this is all over.” She said with a sad smile. Part of her was really hoping that, upon meeting her, her dad would want to keep her around. Maybe even get back together with Mama. Finally complete their family. But she knew it was a fantasy worthy of the storybooks. Nobody truly lives happily ever after unless everyone involves wants it to be so. But, she did believe that maybe her father would keep in contact more often if he knew about her.

Either way, she needed to find him first. Then go rescue Mama. There would be plenty of time for all that afterwards.

She proceeded to begin preparations for the ritual she would perform to find Sam. She started wondering which name he would prefer being called. Dad, Daddy, or Sam if he refused to acknowledge her as his daughter. She prayed it wouldn’t ever come to that.

She laid out the altar cloth on the small ritual table normally used as a writing table. She cut her hand and bled into a small chalice that was in front of Sam’s picture and behind the fabric of his old shirt. She then took a small wallet size photo of her mother, wearing an old Victorian Era gown, into the chalice. She laid out a map of the United States to the right of the set up. Then she lit the contents of the chalice with a match and concentrated. Focused her will and put some of it into her intent. Bringing her hands up and out in front of her, she spoke out loud and clearly.

“I CALL UPON THE UNIVERSE AND HER POWER TO AID IN MY SEARCH. I SEEK THE ONE OF MY BLOOD AND OF MY FLESH. I SEEK THE SEED WHO ALLOWED MY MOTHER TO BEAR FRUIT. I SEEK… SAMUEL WINCHESTER! I SEEK SAMUEL WINCHESTER! **I SEEK SAMUEL WINCHESTER!!!** ”

The chalice flame burst and enveloped the entire room. But it wasn’t ordinary fire. The fire was turning colors. First orange, then bright red, then blue, then green. Then it tuned white. She wanted to cower in fear because of the fire out of instinct, but she knew it wouldn’t hurt her, as that wasn’t its purpose. She had to hold her focus. Otherwise she may not have enough strength to do it again. She continued her words.

“O GREAT FIRE OF THE GODS. LEAD ME TO HE WHO BINDS ME BY BLOOD!” And with that, the flame that was surrounding the room shot into a thick stream and hit the map almost in the middle. Rita put her hands down, took a deep breath, and approached the altar. She looked at the map and observed that there was a pentacle in the state of Kansas. But smack in the middle of the pentacle was a city called Lawrence.

“Lawrence, Kansas. Here I come.” She then whispered something to herself. “Please like me Dad.”

She extended her hand and the mess of the altar disappeared, surprising her. She did it as a joke, hoping what she’d seen on TV would work for her. Cerys didn’t like her watching TV shows that were based on witches and magic, mostly because a lot of them were grossly inaccurate. But apparently waving your hand with the intent to clean up a mess was correct. She smiled to herself. She went into the back room and grabbed her bag, then she grabbed the map. But when she started to make her way towards the front door, she felt something odd. She looked around, opening up her senses to find out what she was feeling. But she didn’t have to look for very long. She saw the map in her hand, and it was glowing in a faint blue light. She brought it closer to her eyes to see what it was doing. In a flash of the same blue light, it blinded her. And then everything, including her, disappeared.

**********

Sam and Dean were in the bunker, researching their next hunt. Sam was more focused on it than Dean was, as Dean had a porno magazine in his hand rather than his laptop in front of him. It was about a week ago when he’d discovered that he had finally moved on from Cerys, determining that it was just a fling. A two-year fling, but nonetheless, it ended almost as quickly as it began. But it took way longer for him to get over it. How long has it been? 5 years? That’s a long time to get over someone. But even though he had moved on, he still prayed every night to Castiel to ensure her safety. Cas had always told him the same thing.

“I can’t tell you how she’s doing. And you know why, Sam. She’s made it so nobody can find her. And I believe it should stay that way. It’s for the best.”

He’d hoped that wherever she was in this world, she was safe. Well cared for. By herself, or…by someone else. Maybe she’d settled down. Found herself a new man. Or woman, as she did swing both ways, and their few encounters with her and Charlie making out proved. And maybe…just maybe she had decided to give up the life of a hunter and start a family. That last thought gave him the creeps. As much as he wanted her to be happy and had moved on, there was some lingering resentment. He always imagined eventually settling down with Cerys and maybe starting a family with her. But that was neither here nor there considering she was gone. Sam had accepted that the underlining resentment would always be there, regardless of anything else. He pushed the thoughts of Cerys and the non-existent future with her out of his mind, and went back to reading the article in front of him. When he realized that was the 5th bust of the hour, he closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair, breathing deeply. Everything was quiet, but only for a few moments. There was a loud bang, a flash of blue light. Sam and Dean bolted out of their seats, guns drawn. White smoke gathered in the center of the walkway leading towards the great room.

“Who’s there?” Dean called out, pointing his gun towards the cloud. “Show yourself, you piece of crap!”

“This is your only warning. If you don’t come out of there now, we will shoot!” Sam shouted.

Then before their very eyes, something very unexpected appeared from the white smoke, making it all vanish. A little girl with black hair, pale skin, and unique eyes. The brothers exchanged a shocking look and immediately put the safety back on their guns and stuck them back in their waistbands.

“We’re not going to hurt you.” Sam said, raising his hands to show he was now unarmed and slowly approaching Rita. When he got closer and got a better look at her, he noticed that she struck him as extremely…familiar. “But you need to tell us who you are and why you’re here.”

Rita stood there in stunned silence, taking him in. She could hardly believe her eyes. _Mama was right,_ she thought. _He IS handsome. And I sorta look like him._ He almost looked exactly like the picture in Mama’s lock box. Only his hair was a tad bit longer now.

“Hey!” Dean snapped Rita out of her daze. Rita looked back at Sam and noticed that he was staring at her in almost the same way she stared at him. “Little girl, you wanna tell us how the hell you poofed yourself in here? We aren’t exactly kind to intruders, you know.” His brash tone made her wince. She hoped that he wasn’t normally like this to his friends.

“Why don’t you start by telling us your name.” Sam said kindly, crouching down to Rita’s eye level. Rita looked back at Sam. She bore herself into is eyes. There was no denying it. This was her father.

“Are…are you Samuel Winchester, who goes by Sam?” Rita finally spoke. Her voice was timid and shy, not at all like her personality.

Sam slowly stood up, taken aback at what was just asked of him.

“That depends on who you are, missy.” Dean said gruffly behind Sam.

“Dean,” Sam said to his right shoulder. “It’s alright.” He turned back to Rita. “Uhh… yes. I’m Sam Winchester.”

Rita sighed in relief. She had completed her mission. “You don’t know me, but I know a lot about you. And your brother.”

“Wonderful. Another damn psychic.” Dean complained, rolling his eyes.

“Dean, shut up.” Sam hissed over his shoulder again. Turning back to Rita, he said, “Well you have us at a disadvantage. You know us, but we haven’t even learned your name yet. Could you please tell me? What’s your name, sweetheart?”

Rita’s heart swelled with adoration. “My name is Annaryetta.”

“Wow, what a beautiful name for a pretty little girl.”

“Annaryetta Millie…Winchester.”

Both boys froze.

“Did you say Winchester? As in related-to-us Winchester?”

“Yes, but everyone calls me Rita.” she replied, then looked back at Sam. “Do you know a woman named Cerys Blake?”

Sam’s heart skipped a beat. Now it was all beginning to make sense. How she looked so familiar to him. Before she even spoke, he knew exactly who she was. There was no denying it. And it scared the hell out of him.

“No way.” Dean breathed out. Sam just stood there in shocked silence. Rita looked Sam square in the eyes, unblinking while saying a silent prayer that his reaction wouldn’t completely crush her world.

“Sam. I’m your daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so proud of myself. I manage to write this chapter during down time at work. And I've already started Chapter 5. It should be up within 24 hours. Thank you ALL for reading this! As always, give it a kudos if you enjoyed it. Love you all!! xx


	5. I Am Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rita makes her existence known to Sam and Dean, Sam can only suspect one thing: Cerys is in trouble. When the boys go off on a rescue mission with Rita in tow, things get awkward between Sam and Cerys. Will Sam decide to be the father figure Rita needs in her life? And will Cerys even allow it after all these years of being apart from him?

“So let me get this straight.” Dean began after hearing Rita explain herself. She went into detail about Cerys’ happenings since she left, and Sam managed to fill in the blanks that Rita didn’t know about. Though without going into too much explicit detail. Sam didn’t know this little girl, and for all he knew this could be a trap, but somehow he doubted it. Rita looked so much like Cerys it made him want to cuddle the little girl in his arms forever. And it did make sense with the timeline given Rita’s age. Cerys left shortly after her and Sam made passionate love. Then the hunt in that abandoned warehouse happened, which would’ve killed Cerys if she hadn’t been a witch. Then the next morning, she was gone. Her body probably was telling her she was pregnant and decided that this child shouldn’t be exposed to the life that hunters live. A stab of jealousy and pity rose up inside him. Isn’t that what he always wanted? A normal apple pie life? Rita was a very lucky little girl. But given who her mother was, she probably decided that with Sam in mind. Dean spoke again after rubbing his temples, trying to take it all in, he looked at Sam “you had sex with Cerys?!”

“Seriously Dean? That’s all you’re getting out of all this? That I had sex? When did my love life become your business?” Sam noticed that Rita didn’t flinch at the mention of sex. She must be pretty mature for her age. She sure spoke like she was.

“It’s my job as your big brother to be intrusive, you know that” Dean retorted. He turned back to Rita. “So, I guess if Sammy's your father, then that means…”

“You’re Uncle Dean!” Rita exclaimed excitedly. She ran to jump into his arms and hug him. Dean almost didn’t catch her, but when he did, though he hesitated for a second, he wrapped her in a big hug. It took Sam by surprise. Who knew Dean could be so affectionate towards a kid he just met 5 minutes ago. _Maybe he’s finally growing up,_ Sam thought to himself amused.

Rita then turned back to Sam. She looked at him for a moment, waiting for him to make a move. That’s when Sam opened his arms up to her. “Come here, Rita.” Rita hesitated for a second, and that worried Sam. Was she afraid of him? _How much did Cerys tell her about me?_ _I hope she left out all the time I was addicted to demon blood and became Lucifer’s vessel._ But then the feel of Rita hopping into Sam’s lap melted all those worries away. He put his arms around her. His daughter. _Holy crap, this is my daughter. My child! My own flesh and blood. And her mother is Cerys, the woman I loved. I can feel Cerys’ energy radiating off of her. And she looks so much like Cerys too._ He took a deep breath to steady his emotions. He wanted to cry. But not out of anger or sadness, but out of pure joy. After a moment of holding her, he took her face in his hands. “Let me look at you properly.”

She had a healthy blend of both of their features. She had Cerys’ fair skin, Sam’s facial structure, Cerys’ hair color of stark raven black, she had Sam’s dimples as well. _Sorry, kid._ He smiled. But there was one feature that definitely stood out. The one that sealed off any doubt about who’s child this was, was her eyes. Her left eye was silver, representing her mother’s magic abilities. And her right eye was a bright hazel. Sam could see a good part of himself in that one eye. And it made him feel… _good_. Like for the first time in his life, he’d done something right. He helped create something so immensely beautiful that he half believed she wasn’t truly his. But he did. And he was extremely proud of himself. And Cerys. In fact, it wasn’t fair to take all the credit. She’s been the one raising her, all alone. It must’ve been hard. She went through an entire pregnancy alone, gave birth alone, and was caring for a child all alone. With no one else’s help. One the one hand, if she really needed the help, she should’ve known to call someone. But on the other hand, given how well off this child appeared to be, mature and strong, it was apparent that Cerys didn’t need help. Or just chose to deal with the problems herself. _Still stubborn as always,_ Sam thought.

That brought up another good point. If Rita was here, then that meant that Cerys was in trouble.

**********

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Cerys screamed as she endured more torture at Abduxuel’s hand. This time he had other demons to help hold her down as she was starting to overpower the chains. She didn’t know how much more she could take. She was losing strength and the will to stay conscious quicker than anticipated. But Abduxuel didn’t relent. He used more witch specific torture devices to keep her fighting for her life. She decided to focus on getting out of here. She had serious concerns that Rita had made her way to Sam and Dean. She focused her will, put power into her intent, and she screamed. What felt like acid was dumped onto her from above, burning her skin and sizzling the power she had drawn up away.

“Nice try, you bitch!” Abduxuel growled. “You’re not poofing your way out of my hands this time!” The most maniacal laugh followed that sentence, making Cerys’ skin crawl. Whatever this stuff was, it _hurt_. But she had the sneaking suspicion that this was only the beginning.

*********

“Where’s your mother, Rita?” Sam asked. It was time to get down to business in rescuing Cerys.

“Gone.” Rita sadly replied. “I came home from school and she wasn’t there. And that never happens. Mama is _always_ home when I get off the bus. Normally I’ll have a snack, then we’ll practice.”

“Practice what?” Dean said, standing in the corner adjacent from Sam and Rita. He didn’t want to get in the way of Sam officially meeting his daughter for the first time.

“Well…magic. Mama has been teaching me everything she knows.”

“What can you do?” Sam asked. He was curious as to what both the girls were capable of. Cerys wasn’t like most witches. She only used magic when it was absolutely necessary. Mostly on hunts. Never to do things she could do the normal way. It was her way of ‘blending in.’ So Sam and Dean have never seen the true extent of her power.

“Well we started by her teaching me _Hen Ilinge_ , or Elder Speech. It’s the basis of all the magic she was taught as an apprentice. Then-”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Dean interrupted. “You mean you tell me… elf language? You’re kidding right?”

“I kinda find that hard to believe myself, sweetie.” Sam agreed. “I thought spells were only in Latin or Enochian.”

“Daddy,” Rita began, “I can call you that right?”

“Of course you can.” Sam smiled, making his heart swell again. _I could get used to this,_ he thought. Rita smiled back then continued, “there are thousands of magical languages out there. Mom was going to teach me what Enochian she knew when I was older. She said it’s too dark for a young witch like me.”

“She’s right.” The boys said in unison. Rita smiled.

Rita went on. “When I came home that day, the door was unlocked, which never happens, and her coffee cup was shattered on the tile in front of the living room. It also felt…dark.”

“Dark?” Sam inquired. “How do you mean?”

“Like something very, very bad had happened there.” The boys exchanged a grim look.

“So, fast forward to now.” Dean said. “How did you managed to find us?“

“With this.” She dug into her backpack and pulled out the photo, shirt piece, and the map and handed it to Sam. “Mama keeps a locked box on her dresser. It can only be opened with a special key. I’m not allowed inside her room but I knew it was there.” Dean came over to see what Sam had in his hand.

Sam breathed out a sigh. “I can’t believe she kept this.”

“Did you give that to Mama?”

“Yes. A very long time ago. I was wondering what happened to that shirt. It was one of my favorites. And this picture.” He took a deep breath “We exchanged photos when we first met. We ran into each other on a hunt. She wanted something to remember me by. I happen to have it on me, so I gave it to her.” He pulled out his wallet and found a bigger version of the Victorian era photo of Cerys. He handed it to Rita. “And she gave me this one.”

“I used a smaller one like that in my tracking ritual.” Rita took the photo from his hand and admired it.

“Tracking ritual?” Dean piped up. “Must’ve been a pretty damn good one if you managed to land right here in what’s supposed to be a magic proof bunker.”

“Actually it’s angel and demon proof, Dean,” Sam corrected him. Dean scoffed. It wasn’t in his nature to accept the supernatural as friendly. “There’s no warding for the kind of magic Cerys and, evidently, Rita, use.” He turned back to Rita. “What do you think happened to your mother, sweetie?”

“She was taken. I just know it.”

“Alright,” Dean began. “So let’s say she was. Do you know of anyone who wanted to hurt your mom?”

“Mama always said that lots of people were natural enemies of witches. So yeah I guess.” Sam and Dean once again exchanged ominous looks. Sam knew all too well who would want to hurt Cerys. They’d fought quite a few of her past enemies. But they were all dead, so it couldn’t be any of them.

“It’s gonna be hard to find her with no leads.” Dean sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. “I won’t lie, I don’t even know where to start, Sammy.”

“I do.” Rita said.

The boys looked at her for a moment. Rita smiled at them, and pulled out a small heart shaped locket. It was silver, shiny like it was brand new, and embossed with Elder warding symbols, as well as the traditional anti-possession, devil’s trap, and Enochian Angel banishing symbols.

“I know that locket.” Sam said after another moment.

“It was kept in her secret lock box. She said that it was her most prized possession. And that losing it would be worse than losing her life. But I have no idea what’s in it. She wouldn’t tell me.” Rita handed it to Sam. Sam opened it and he felt a tear fall from his eye. On one side, there was the tiny infant Rita pictured as a happy smiling baby. And on the other side, it was the only picture Sam knew of with the two of them together. Cerys didn’t like taking pictures of herself and Sam remembered it took a lot of convincing to allow Bobby to take one of the two of them. Cerys was positioned in front of Sam, with her back to his chest. Sam had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other across her chest, where their hands interlocked. They both looked straight into the camera lens, smiling like nothing bad could ever happen to them. _So all this time… she never forgot about me. About us. She still thinks of us as a family._ At that point, Dean approached Sam’s flank to see what he was getting all weepy about, and Dean felt his own eyes well up with tears. He sorta saw Cerys as a little sister and was torn up when she disappeared. He always imagined her being the perfect girl for his little brother. And he was secretly glad she thought of them all as family. Rita just stood there with a confused look on her face. “What’s so sad? Why are you guys about to cry? Did I do the wrong thing by bringing that here? I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Please don’t be mad at-”

“Rita, relax. We’re not mad.” Dean began, slowly approaching Rita and squatting down to her level. “In fact, we’re the opposite of mad. We’re happy you brought your mom’s locket here.”

“You are?” Rita said excitedly.

“Yes, we are, my dear.” Sam said, closing the locket and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He came to her and Dean and picked Rita up. “Do you know why?”

Rita paused for a moment, then a big grin broached her cute little face. “Because we’re gonna use it to find Mama.”

“Because we’re gonna use it to find Mama.”

*********

“This is an interesting get up. Never seen an altar this…bare…” It was the middle of the afternoon the next day. Despite the criticalness of Cerys’ disappearances, it was obvious to the boys that the teleportation spell took a number on Rita little body. She might be a powerful witch like her mother, but she was still 5 years old. So the boys made arrangements for her to stay as if she was moving in. With Rita’s help, she got her own room directly across from Sam’s. It was decorated in pretty purple and blue colors. Even the wards they painted all over were in purple and blue with some pink accents (as per Rita’s request) Sam tried to explain what all the symbols meant at a 5-year-old level, but when Rita demanded to not treat her like a child, he couldn’t help but laugh. He supposed he probably should’ve been more stern with her, but he decided not to try. _Man this parenting thing is hard. Definitely gonna take some time to get used to. I really need to sit and think about how I’m going to work this out._ And also, decide if he should even make an effort to be in this child’s life. Cerys made it very apparent that she wanted Rita nowhere near hunters and the dangerous lives they lived when she left. He wasn’t sure if being her father now was such a good idea. But Cerys was currently missing, so Rita needed some kind of parental direction while she was absent. That was good enough for him. _I’m going to be the best father Rita could ever possibly have._ After her room was done, Rita announced that she was hungry. Dean offered to make her one of his Winchester famous burgers, but was rather offended when Rita said she was vegetarian.

“Rita, do you even know what that means?” Dean said.

“Do you, Uncle Dean? Given what Mama told me about your diet, you’d probably die without animal products.” Rita smirked at her uncle. Sam laughed out loud. Dean stuck his tongue out at her, and Rita returned it. Sam was cracking up at them making silly faces at each other.

“Alright, children, that’s enough.” Sam interjected, Dean shooting him a glare which just made Sam laugh even more. “Rita, what’s your favorite meal to eat? I’m sure there’s plenty of things we can whip up for you. If need be, Uncle Dean can make a food run.” Dean continued to grumble to himself, widening Sam’s smile.

“Mama used to make this pizza for me. With alfredo sauce, feta cheese, spinach, baby tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and yellow peppers.” Rita said with pride. “She told me that you taught her to always eat right, and your body would love you back.”

Sam was astonished by her words. Cerys used to eat as badly as Dean. They would share the unhealthiest junk food they could and it was their way of bonding at first. But when Cerys’ diet starting making her sick, Sam knew he had to change it. So he started slowly introducing healthier options. Taught her how to grocery shop with her health and budget in mind, even taught her how to cook. He was honored that she passed on that wisdom to their child.

“That…” Sam started, but then his stomach growled out loud. He placed a hand over it, blushing slightly. “actually sounds really good. Let me go see what we’ve got and I’ll make it for us. Dean can help go you wash up.” And with that, Dean extended his hand and led Rita towards the hallway bathroom. Sam went to the pantry to find the ingredients needed to make dinner. He decided to play nice and make two pizzas. One for him and Rita. “Rabbit food” Dean mockingly called it. He always poked fun at Sam’s dietary habits. And he made a meat lover’s pizza for Dean. They chowed down and enjoyed each others' company. After dinner and cleaning up, Rita yawned and the boys decided it was time to get some rest. They were gonna need their strength if they were gonna go rescue Cerys from who, or what, ever held her captive.

*******

The altar Rita set up was still in its previously untouched state the next morning. They breakfasted and made the necessary preparations for a rescue. They had all the typical weaponry, holy water vials, Dead Man’s Blood syringes, spray paint for warding and making devil’s traps, and salt in multiple forms. Sam and Dean made sure their guns were loaded with rock salt shells and bullets too. Dean, despite Sam’s fervent protests, gave Rita a small silver knife and gave a quick lesson on how to defend herself with it, as well as where to stab a demon to kill it.

“Dean, she’s 5 years old. She shouldn’t be armed.” Sam had pulled Dean off to the side after he walked in on him showing her how to stab and twist. He was upset about it.

“Of course she should! Do you really want to send your only child into the battlefield unarmed? Are you seriously gonna start with that ‘kids are too young to know how to fight’ crap again like you did at Stanford?”

“She’s my daughter and I say she should not. We can defend her. Hell, she’s a witch. She probably doesn’t even need man-made weaponry.”

“And what if something happens and that knife is the only thing standing between her and death by demon? Then what? How the hell would you explain that to Cerys? Hmm? ‘Oh sorry honey, I didn’t think she should have a knife, it was too dangerous.’ Give me a fucking break, Sam. She’s got the best hunters in the game to teach her how to do things right. She’ll be alright.”

Sam glared at his older brother, but decided that he was right. He’d never forgive himself if Rita got hurt. And Cerys would probably kill them both if she did. He sighed “Fine. But if you’re teaching her, it’s on you if she fucks up.”

“Relax grandpa, she’ll be fine. She’s a fucking Winchester. It’s in her blood to be a badass. I’ll keep an eye on her the whole time. Your job should be focusing on finding Cerys.” And with that, the brothers went back into the main room, where Rita had her eyes closed, standing in front of the altar, holding the locket in front of her. She was muttering to herself, practically inaudible to the boys. There was a chalice in the center of the altar cloth, filled with different things, and the picture that Sam had of Cerys behind the chalice. A blank parchment was in front of the chalice. The brother stood right behind Rita on either side. Sam was on her right, Dean on her left. Rita lowered the locket slightly.

“This is it, you guys. I’ll need to recite the spell out loud.” She took Sam’s left hand and put it on her right shoulder, and repeated the opposite gesture with Dean’s hand. Then she patted them both. “You must make constant physical contact with me in order to teleport. Do _not_ break contact until it’s complete. Understood.”

“Yes.” They said in unison, completely serious. They both had their bags on their back. It was time to go rescue Cerys.

“I CALL UPON THE UNIVERSE AND HER POWER TO AID IN MY SEARCH. I SEEK THE ONE OF MY BLOOD AND OF MY FLESH. I SEEK THE BEING OF WHOSE WHOM I WAS BORN. I SEEK… CERYS FIONA BLAKE! I SEEK CERYS FIONA BLAKE! **I SEEK CERYS FIONA BLAKE!!!** ”

The same thing happened like it did in their apartment. The fire roared in spectacular colorful fashion, enveloping the room. The boys both flinched but did not break contact. When the fire turned white, she continued the incantation.

“O GREAT FIRE OF THE GODS. LEAD ME TO HER WHO BINDS ME BY BLOOD!!” The fire shot straight at the parchment as before, and transformed into a detailed map, with a giant X in the center. It appeared to be the wilderness of upstate California, but knowing what they’d dealt with in the past, it was most likely a dungeon, or a cave, or both. Still not breaking contact, Sam leaned forward to get a better look at the map. And he froze in horror.

“I know that area.”

“You do?” Rita’s eyes widened. “Then… you know where Mama is?”

Dean eyed him after looking at the map himself. He eyes also widened with horror. “No way…I thought…”

“So did I. But apparently we have some unfinished business to attend to.” Sam said grimly. “And we’re gonna need to up our game this time.”

“What do you mean?” Rita said.

“Rita I want you to listen to me very carefully.” Sam said, not breaking eye contact with the map or physical contact with his daughter’s shoulders. He took a deep breath, then looked Rita in the eyes when she turned her head to look at him. “I want you to stay close to your Uncle Dean at all times. Listen to him and do everything he says, even if you don’t agree with it. If your mother is where we think she is, then she is in great danger. Your uncle will protect you at all costs. Right, Dean?”

“Damn skippy.” Dean said, now looking at Rita. “Don’t worry, kiddo. You and I got this.” He winked at her, making her smile.

“What will you do Daddy?”

“I’m going to make sure this thing never hurts another soul on Earth again. I thought we did the first time, but I was wrong. This time, he will die.”

They all fell silent for a second. Rita was the first to break it.

“I’m going to pick up the map now. It’s the teleportation medium and it does the actual travel magic for us. I discovered it when I came here by accident. I had planned on coming here by bus.”

“Seriously, by bus?” Dean started.

“Not now Dean.” Sam shushed him.

“Do not break contact! Are you ready?” Rita asked.

“Let’s do it.” The boys said in unison. _We really need to break that habit,_ Sam thought.

“Then hang on!” Rita picked up the map. The blue light enveloped everything like before, and Rita, Sam and Dean were swallowed by its blinding brightness.

********

When Sam opened his eyes, they were in what looked like a dungeon. But the walls were covered in dirt, so he suspected they were really in a cave that was made to appear like a dungeon. _No denying this,_ he thought. _Abduxuel survived. Damnit. God only knows what he’s doing to Cerys now._

They wouldn’t have to look very far. They could hear screams coming from deep within the cave.

“Mama!” Rita screamed.

“Shh!” Dean covered her mouth gently, then got down at her eye level and placed a finger onto his lips, motioning her to be quiet. “There could be hundreds of demons down here and only three of us,” he whispered to her. “we need to keep a low profile. Attack by surprise. Let me show you some things, Rita.”

He made a gesture with his hands, showing her how he wanted her to position her blade. She did it but clumsily. He patiently adjusted her arms and hand grip on the blade. He reexamined her stance, then gave her a thumbs ups. Then he showed her the hand signals he uses to communicate with Sam, and she quickly repeated them to indicate she understood. Then he motioned her to get in front of him. Normally, Sam and Dean covered each other’s backs, but with Rita in the mix now, they made an effort to keep her in their line of sight, while still watching their own backs. Dean led the charge, Sam was behind him, and Rita was in front, maneuvering in between them. It didn’t take them long to find where Cerys was. And she did not look good. Sam gestured Dean to keep Rita away until Sam could confirm it was safe. Then he approached her. And his heart dropped.

“Is she alive?” Dean called out.

Sam felt for Cerys’ pulse. He held two fingers in the crook of her neck for longer than he normally would. He had to take a moment to realize that he was in front of his lover again. He brushed some of her hair away from her face. She had blood caked in her hair, and she had a huge gash in her neck and face. But all things considered… _She’s even more beautiful than the day she left,_ he thought.

“SAM!”

“Her pulse is weak, but she’s alive.” Sam realized she wasn’t clothed underneath the restraints. His pants suddenly felt tighter. “We need to get her out of here. I’m gonna go find a sheet. She’s not-”

“MAMA!” Rita broke away from Dean and ran towards Sam. Sam tried to stop her but Rita jumped onto the table and started shaking Cerys. “Mama wake up. WAKE UP! We need to go! Daddy can save you! Uncle Dean can too!” When Cerys didn’t stir, Rita started to cry.

“Rita, please, go back to your uncle. I need to take care of your mother.” Sam picked her up off of where Cerys lay. He thought she was going to resist, but instead grabbed Sam around the neck and hugged him tight, burying her head in his shoulder to sob.

“Rita?” they heard a moan from the table. When they turned around, Cerys was looking at them, panting hard. “How in the- Sam!” Her silver eyes grew wide. Sam put Rita down, who immediately ran to Dean. Dean picked her up and she did the same thing she did to her father. Sam rushed back over to Cerys, cupping her face into his hands.

“Shh, don’t speak, dear.” Sam said softly. “I’m here. I’m going to get you out of here. You’re safe.” He caressed her face, concern etched all over his. He gave her a more thorough look over to see how exactly she was injured, and he felt his anger rising. “When I get my hands on that-”

“Sam,” Cerys said weakly. Sam focused all of his attention to whatever she had to say. “It’s him. The demon we thought we killed before. Abduxuel. He…” she stifled a sob, and look into his eyes once more. “He tortured me. I’m bound in the purest of iron. I cannot use any magic.”

“I know how to kill him this time.” Sam said with a vengeful tone. “But I need some of your blood to finalize the weapon.” When she gave him a worried look, he continued “Only a silver blade smeared with the blood of a surviving victim can kill it.”

“My neck.” She moved her head slightly to her right to expose a particularly nasty gash, still oozing. “He stabbed me repeatedly. It’s the only wound that hasn’t begun to close up yet. Quickly Sam! Then free me so I can get dressed.”

“I dunno, CeeCee.” Only Sam called her by her childhood moniker when he was being playful. He was the only one allowed to call her CeeCee. “I think you’re plenty dressed to me.” He gave her a sly smirk and winked at her. Even in the face of adversity, Sam always kept his sense of humor about him. It was something Cerys missed.

“You can undress me with your eyes later, Sammy.” Cerys grinned, even though it hurt. Sam always hated it when Dean called him by his own childhood moniker. But for some reason, he didn’t mind it when she called him that.

*******

After Sam freed Cerys, he used some of the blood from her neck wound to coat the silver blade. They found the fucker and made quick work of him, permanently making sure he never returned to terrorized anyone ever again. With Cerys dressed, although bloody, beaten and tired, she was alive and able to walk with them out of the cave. With Cerys’ help, Rita teleported them all back to the bunker. After a day’s rest and recovery, reality set back in. Sam and Cerys were reunited, and now they had a daughter together. A daughter whose life Sam had been absent from. Sam came into the library and saw Cerys in her old reading spot. _It’s like she never left,_ he thought. _She would always be in here reading. In that same spot._ It was in his train of thought that Cerys noticed him standing in the doorway, staring at her.

“You know, you can come in, Sam.” Cerys began. “I shan’t bite.”

“Cerys.” Sam said, a serious tone taking over his voice. “We need to talk.”

“I’d say so. A lot has…happened since I left.”

“Understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”

“I take it you know now why I did.” Cerys’ tone also grew serious. She knew this was most likely going to be a big fight.

“I do. But it still doesn’t justify you not talking to me.” Sam could feel anger starting to rise inside him. He always imagined the conversation he would have if Cerys were to return. And it always made him angry to think about confronting her. “I mean, really Cerys. You didn’t think it was important to tell me that I had a kid? A fucking _kid?!_ Those are details I really need to know.”

“And what would you have done?” Cerys said angrily. “You know damn well you wouldn’t have given up hunting to be a father.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Actually I do. Because every time you try, what happens? Someone dies and you go crawling back to Dean. You know this kind of life is no place for a child to have a good childhood, you can attest to that from experience! I couldn’t tell you about her because I knew you can’t be both. You’re either a hunter or a parent. I’m sorry but you’re not the man your dad was, and even then it was a disaster. He was more of a hunter than a proper father and she needs a proper father. So no, I didn’t call you. I didn’t tell you I’d had your baby, and I did a damn good job of raising her on my own!”

“Once again, someone else thinks they know what’s best for me.”

“Damnit Sam don’t start that shit again.”

“No I will!” Sam raised his voice at her. “Dean does the same shit. And I’m fucking tired of it. I honestly thought you were better than him, but I guess not. This is not about me doing something that could endanger my life, this is our child. OUR child, Cerys! I had a right to know about Rita. In addition I have a right to decide whether or not I should be in her life. That was MY decision to make. If you hadn’t left in the first place, we could’ve decided this and made it work together. But no, you ran off without another word. And that fucking hurt, Cerys. If I didn’t have Dean around, I would’ve probably ended my life. You were everything to me. EVERYTHING. And when you left, you took my heart with you. YOU CUT ME DEEP, CERYS!” Sam was breathing hard and there were tears making his eyes shine a little brighter.

Cerys was taken aback. _He was going to kill himself._ And now, all the doubt in Cerys’ mind over the years, all the worry about whether or not she made the right decision, blew up in front of her. She now realized that she fucked up. Hard. She hadn’t even considered how Sam would feel about her departure. She was…

“To be honest,” she said shakily, on the verge of breaking down, “I was more concerned for our daughter rather than your feelings. Or mine for that matter. I was alone and afraid for a long time. I went through that pregnancy in a town where I knew no one, and I stayed isolated. You know me Sam. Not talking to people is so fucking hard for me. I didn’t know who was friend or foe so I assumed everyone was out to get me. It was safer that way. I sacrificed a lot to make things work for her, for us. I guess that’s the price you pay for becoming a parent.” She let hot tears fall from her eyes. Two big drops landed on the opened book that lay in her lap, staining the pages. She cried silent sobs.

Just then, Sam was at her side, crouching down to wipe her tears away. She looked up into his eyes and wiped his away too. Then he took the book from her lap, closed it, and took her hands into his. He kissed her knuckles lightly. She felt a shiver go down her spine. She’d missed his tender caresses. “The only comfort I find in all this,” he began, trying to even out his breathing. “is that Rita is a fantastic little girl. She’s smart, strong, brave, very advanced for a 5 year old. And she’s incredibly beautiful. Just like her mother.” He smiled at her, at which point her heart melted. “You did good, Cerys.”

“Well, she’s part yours. So I can’t take all the credit in her good looks.” They chuckled together.

“So…Annaryetta Millie Winchester. That’s also a beautiful name. Millie was my grandmother's name.”

“I know. I wanted her to have just a bit more than the Winchester surname. From what Dean told me, Millie Winchester raised your dad all on her own. It takes a woman of immense strength to put up with that asshole. As if being a Winchester by blood didn’t make you a badass all on your own.”

Sam laughed out loud. “Yeah, it tends to be a family business thing.” They both shared another laugh. “So…what now?”

“I would like to apologize to you properly Sam.” Cerys took a deep breath. “I want all of this mess to be put behind us once and for all. We both made mistakes and we should made amends. Even if we go our separate ways again, at least there will be nothing left to the void about where we stand. So, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry that I ran off and kept Rita hidden from you. I should’ve at least called you and let you decide whether or not you wanted any part of her life.”

“I forgive you.” Sam said. “And I’m sorry I put you in a predicament where you felt you couldn’t trust me. Because, at the end of it all, you didn’t trust I would be a good fit for Rita’s life. And I would’ve never imagined you feeling that way. I’m sorry I got you pregnant in the first place.”

“I forgive you for everything, except that last part.” Cerys said. Sam blinked. She continued “Don’t ever feel sorry for knocking me up. Rita has been such a blessing in my life. She helped me to grow up a bit. How to love in a way only a parent could love. And for that, I will always be grateful. Rita, despite all circumstances, was the best gift you’d ever given me. So…. thank you.” Sam smiled, then leaned over to kiss Cerys. His keep was deep and long, and he tasted so good on her lips. Cerys had missed his kisses.

Sam pulled away. “Where do we go from here?”

“That depends on you Sam. Rita is with me no matter where we go. That’s a given. But I don’t expect you to do the same. Not because I don’t trust you would be a good father figure, but because I know the life of a hunter. You don’t just walk away from it. I didn’t give you the chance then, so I’m giving it to you now. But this is a now or never situation. This isn’t something you half ass or decide later on down the road you don’t want to do it anymore. Annaryetta needs a father. Are you going to fulfill that role, or should I leave the job position as opened?”

Sam didn’t even need to think about it. From the moment that Rita told him she was his daughter, he already felt bound to her. Destined and sworn to love and protect her at all costs, as he did with Cerys. “I already felt like her dad before we knew where you were. It’s gonna take some time getting used to, but I will step up and be her dad. But I think you two should stay here for a while. Let everyone get adjusted to the new roles. After, let’s say, 2 weeks, we’ll reevaluate and determined where to go. Whether or not y’all stay.”

“Fine by me. So now that that’s settled, there’s one more thing we need to discuss.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“Us.”

Sam’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t thought about ‘us’ in that sense in a long time. But it was a discussion that needed to happen. Better now than never. “Cerys. I never stopped loving you. I was angry for a long time, not knowing why you left and worrying about where you were or if you were even alive. Dean can vouch for me, I had nightmares. But despite all the resentment and anger, deep down, I think I still loved you.”

“I never stopped loving you either.” Cerys said “I knew you’d be upset, but I never thought past that. You know, I kept your picture. The shirt that I accidentally ripped off you during that fight.”

“Yeah, I remember now,” Sam chuckled lightly. “Rita used those pictures to find you. They’re gone.”

“Meh I still have a copy of them.” She winked and tapped her temple lightly a few times.

“But…” Sam continued, sucking in a breath. “As far as ‘us’, I’m not sure I’m willing to move forward in any way. Not right now at least. All the time, I thought you were dead, and now I find you’re alive and have a kid, it’s a lot to take in. I need to get into the role of being a father before I can think about a relationship. I hope you understand.”

“So you want to co-parent.”

“Yeah.” Sam hadn’t thought of that before. He liked that idea. “That’s it. We’ll co-parent. We’ll both be the parents that Rita needs and deserves and after a few weeks, we’ll sit down as a family and discuss things further. Rita needs a permanent home. We can decide later where that’ll be when the time is right.”

“Agreed. Speaking of Rita, let’s go find out where she’s causing trouble.” Cerys and Sam got up and went into the living room to find Rita and Dean playing Sorry the board game. And things were apparently getting heated.

“YOU CHEATED! BIG FAT CHEATER!”

“I DID NOT. AND I’M NOT FAT”

“UNCLE DEEEEEEEAN!!!! THAT’S NOT FAIR!”

“Sure it is. I’m the adult therefore I can go first. Again.”

Rita continued to whine and Dean just kept laughing. Sam and Cerys stood in the doorway, watching them try and fail to play a game that neither of them were very good at. Cerys didn’t notice at all that Sam had snaked his hand around her waist until she could feel his breath against her neck. Given the harrowing last few…well, years she’s had, she let him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMGLOB! I finally finished this freaking chapter. I'm so sorry it took me so long! But it's up and I've started the next chapter. No guarantees as to when it'll come out. But I hope, with today being my Friday and having the next 3 nights off, I won't keep you guys waiting. 
> 
> As always, give this work some kudos if you enjoy it. Leave a comment for any critique or praise. And if you have an idea for an imagine/one shot let me know! Love you guys <3 xx


	6. Imminent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fierce sickness has taken over Cerys. She tries to fight it off but it puts her in the hospital. Sam, Dean, and Rita watch in horror as nothing can be done to save her. Will this be the end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who has left kudos and have read the story thus far. It has been an obnoxiously crazy past few weeks and writing this chapter has been very difficult. This chapter has some pretty intense medical fluff. Being a medic I am proud of this ^_^  
> As always if you are new here and you like what you read, give this story a kudos! Love all y'all! <3 xx

She had no idea when it originally started, but she knew she was getting sick. Which was weird because witches typically didn’t get sick from normal human ailments. It started out with just that overall feeling of ick, but it had now escalated to what seemed like a constant state of vertigo. The room was slowly tilting to the side and staying standing was becoming difficult. Her chest also felt kinda tight too. But that was nothing compared to the projectile vomiting that gave little to no warning before she littered the bunker floors with bright orange puke.

Rita and Cerys had been at the bunker for almost a week following the boys’ rescue escapade. Sam and Dean and Cerys were sitting in the living room. Cerys was in the recliner, with it leaning back almost all the way, covered in a blanket, trying to rest. Sam was on the couch reading an archive from the Men of Letters, and Dean was at the table, hunched over the laptop looking for a case. Rita came into the room from the kitchen.

“Mama!” She ran up towards the recliner but stopped before hopping into her mother’s lap, taking in how awful Cerys looked. “Wow you look very sick. Daddy, Mama’s sick!”

“I know, sweetheart. Let her rest. Come sit with me instead.”

“But I wanna sit with Mama!” Rita whined.

“It’s alright, Sam. I don’t mind. Come here, my love _._ ” Cerys said weakly. Rita’s face lit up and she hopped onto the recliner to lay down with Cerys. She placed her head onto Cerys’ chest, but quickly sat back up after hearing how fast Cerys’ heart was beating.

“Daddy come here!” Rita got up from the chair. She ran over to Sam and grabbed his hand, leading him towards Cerys. “Listen!” Rita managed to climb back in the chair, grabbed a fistful of Sam’s hair and roughly put his head onto Cerys’ chest. He repositioned himself to properly listen and was horrified at what he heard.

“Your heart’s racing, Cerys. How long has this been going on?”

“I don’t know, a few days at least.” She mumbled. She was too weak to look at him.

He picked his head back up and took her hand into his.  He lightly pinched the thumb side of her wrist and took her pulse. When he counted about 130 beats a minute, he looked up and made a point to look her directly in the eyes. It was a risk looking a witch into the eyes because one can use magic to peer directly into the soul. Soulgazing can be taxing on anyone. Sam remembered when his first soulgazed with Cerys. He ended up blacking out. But this time he didn’t think there would be too much risk as Cerys normally bright silver eyes were glazed over.

“We should take you to the hospital. Your heart rate is too high, you’ve been throwing up for days, you’re not able to walk and now you look like you squirted glue in your eyes. This is insane.”

“No Sam, I’ll be alright. Probably just recovering from all the torture and such. In a few days I should be good as new.”

But after a few days she wasn’t good as anything. She had gotten worse. She could no longer sit upright on her own and hold anything down. She threw up water like it was acid. Her heart rate now breeched over 150, and when she closed her eyes, she was convinced the world was completely upside down. But she had to push through it. She had to make herself better on her own. It was a life lesson she’d somehow convinced herself she was teaching Rita. She wanted more than anything to make sure her daughter was self-sufficient.

Sam tried everything he could to convince her she needed a doctor. But Cerys wouldn’t hear of it. He even got Dean involved, something he never thought he’d do. But despite both Sam and Dean and even Rita protesting, Cerys wouldn’t budge. Sam was worried it was gonna come to the point where he no longer gave her a choice and would force her to go. But that day would never come.

******

Cerys has decided one day that she’d had enough laying around. She was hungry and tired and needed a nice long bath. So she decided to get up, despite Sam begging her not to. She started by seeing if she’d had enough strength to pull the recliner back up into a sitting position. When she did, she got excited. _Maybe I am getting better!_ She then proceeded to stand up. A little wobbly at first but the world didn’t seem to be spinning as fast as it was. Not ideal, but it was progress. She took a few test steps to make sure she could walk on her own. When she succeeded, she managed to walk towards the kitchen where Sam was making Rita and Dean lunch. Dean and Rita were playing go fish at the table, with Dean trying to sneak a peek at Rita cards. Cerys’ victory at getting up and moving around was short lived.

“Mama you’re awake!” Rita called out. The boys turned around and greeted her with concerned looks.

“Cerys you should be in bed.”  Sam was scared to see her up.

“Sam, I-” but she couldn’t finish her thought. Suddenly, the room started spinning harder and faster than it ever had. She could see the boys and Rita fade in and out of focus. She tried to take a step forward but ended up taking a step backwards, wavering. That’s when she lost her balance, and consciousness, and collapsed to the ground.

********

Chaos ensued. Everything seemed to progress in slow motion. Sam and Dean jumped up, running to Cerys’ unconscious form sprawled on the ground, yelling her name. Rita crying out from the kitchen. Sam reached Cerys first, cradling her in his arms, panic written all over his face.

“Cerys! Baby wake up! WAKE UP!” Sam cries out. Dean reaches them and slides in beside Cerys. “Dean, call 911. Take care of Rita!” Dean nods and gets up, briskly walking back towards the kitchen where Rita is standing there, staring in disbelief. He whips out his cell phone and dials 911. Sam makes every effort to wake Cerys up. He shakes her, bats at her face a bit, all while continuing to yell her name, commanding her to wake up. When he realizes it’s futile, tears start streaming down his face. He strokes her face tenderly, fearing the worst.

Meanwhile, a single ring from Dean’s phone and he hears a female dispatcher speak on the other end. “911, what is the nature of your emergency?”

“My brother’s wife collapse on the floor. She’s unconscious and we can’t wake her up.” Dean picks up Rita, who’s now weeping silent tears. She buries her face into the crook of Dean’s neck. Dean gently kisses her while talking with the dispatcher.

Sam snaps his head up at Dean, shocked to what he just said. He gave his older brother a look that just said “seriously?” But Dean, being a master of silent communication with his brother, gives Sam a look back. Sam couldn’t honestly tell of Dean referred to Cerys at his wife by accident, or….or if he was trying to tell him something.

 _What are you getting at, Dean?_ Sam thought as Cerys continued to lay lifeless in his arms. But then he looked away, and back at Cerys. He started to ponder. The way he held her, the way he stroked her cheek, the way he was desperate to try and awake her. _Do I love her enough for that? I mean, I always loved her. But…to consider her my wife? My eternal soulmate? Would she even consider me her husband?_

The sound of approaching sirens snapped Sam back into reality. He felt her pulse. It was rapid and weak. Her heart was beating so fast he couldn’t count it to determine her exact heart rate. He had to guess. 170? 180 beats a minute? He didn’t know, and that scared him. Cerys was pale, almost the color of some ghost him and Dean would encounter. Her breathing was shallow, and very slow. He could hear Rita crying on Dean’s shoulder as Dean hung up the phone, trying his best to soothe his niece. Soon, the paramedics arrived. And quickly began working their patient. And all the Winchesters could do was watch in horror.

*******

 A monitor beeps at a very fast pace. A ventilator pushes air through plastic tubing. An IV pump pushes fluids and medications through more plastic tubing. Cerys laid in the ICU on life support. Something Sam never thought he’d ever see again. True, last time it was Dean fighting for his life, but still. Someone he cared about was on the brink of death. This came at the worst time too. First he finds out that he’s a father, and then Cerys comes back, and now he was close to losing her again. _This has to be a dream. A very fucked up deranged dream,_ he thought as he held her limp and cool-to-the-touch hand.  
Rita walked into the room with bags from a local fast food joint. She’d returned from going with Dean to get food for Sam. “Daddy?” Sam said nothing, just continued to stare at Cerys. “I brought you something to eat. Uncle Dean said you can’t starve yourself just because Mama is…well…”

“Thank you sweetie but I’m not hungry.” Sam said in a low serious tone.

“You’re also a big fat liar,” came the voice of his older brother from the doorway. Rita whipped her head around. Sam ignored him. “Look Sam, Cerys has been here for the last 2 days and you have yet to leave this room. We haven’t seen you eat in that timeframe.”

“Dean, just because I don’t eat with you present doesn’t mean I don’t eat at all.” Sam scoffed, but again did not take his eyes off of Cerys.

“Whatever dude. Just remember, Cerys is going to pull through. She’s been through far worse than this. She’s a fighter. She’s a Winchester. She’s gonna make it.”

“Dean, we don’t even know what’s going on with her. All we know is that she was sick and now she’s on life support. Nothing in between. I-,” He was going to continue, but remembered that Rita was still in the room, and he didn’t want to scare her. He sighed, finally making eye contact with the pair of them. Dean face look worn, and Rita looked pale, staring at her mother’s near-lifeless form. He realized he was being selfish. This was affecting all of them, not just him. “Look, I’m not gonna kill myself by going a few days unkempt. I…just need time…to process all of this. Okay?” He extended his hand towards Rita, accepting the food that Dean bought. He pulled out the contents and revealed a salad in a clear plastic tub, some dressing, and a bottle of water. He smiled, knowing full well that Rita had picked it out for him. And the only reason Dean had paid for what he considered to be ‘rabbit food.’ He looked at Rita again, and beamed “Thank you sweetheart. I’ll eat it in a bit. I promise.” Dean cracked a smile, and quietly slipped away from the pair of them.

Sam set the food down at the tray with wheels and began eating. Rita climbed into the bed with Cerys, careful not to disturb any of the medical equipment attached to her mother. She laid down as close as she could and closed her eyes. Sam saw tears starting to spill out from the corners of her eyes. Just in time too because he’d just finished his food. He threw away the trash and went over to the side she lay. He looked up at the monitors and felt the emotions coming on. Cerys’ heart rate was very fast, averaging 190 beats a minute. Her blood pressure was the opposite, remaining dangerously low. She’d stopped breathing in the ambulance on the way to the hospital so she’d required being intubated and was kept on a ventilator. She required multiple IV drugs to maintain her vital signs, as well as regular saline fluids to stay hydrated as a lot of the meds can easily dehydrate. All prompting the question weighing heavy on their minds: why? And how?

“Hey princess,” Sam said softly to his weeping daughter. Rita looked up at him, her eyes puffy and red. She reached out for him, and he picked her up and moved back to the chair he was sitting in before. He held Rita close to his chest, gently rocking her back and forth. “Like your uncle said, she’s gonna make it. She’s too strong to let this get her down.” But even he didn’t believe his own words. He felt his own tears coming on, but made an effort to keep them from spilling out. He needed to be strong for his girls.

“Daddy?” Rita spoke after a few minutes’ silence.

“Mhm?”

“Do you love Mama?”

“Of course I do.” Sam said before he could stop himself. Part of him felt weird for saying it out loud. But he realized then that, despite the animosity he’d felt towards her leaving all those years ago, he never stopped loving her. Cerys was the first person he was able to give his whole heart to after Jessica’s untimely death. She made him believe that love was possible after such a loss. And that was a debt he felt he could never repay. “Why do you ask?”

“Mama told me that she told you not to find her after she left. She also said that she never stopped loving you, but did what she thought was best for me. I just wanted to know if you felt the same way.”

Sam thought for a moment, then said, “I never stopped loving your mother. She took a piece of my heart with her when she left. When I saw her in that dungeon, I felt like I got it back.”

“I can tell.” Rita smiled.

“How so?” Sam frowned.

“I can hear it right here.” Rita leaned closer into her father’s embrace, and listened to his heart. After a minute or two passed, she spoke again. “Mama always told me her heart would beat faster whenever she thought of you. And I could hear it too. I just know that if our lives were different, she would’ve never left.”

“I hope you’re right, darling.” Sam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And it gave him hope. At that moment, he felt all his anger, his hurt, and his emptiness go. And he could feel it when his heart gave a slight jump when he looked at Cerys’ lifeless form again. _I can’t deny it. I still love her. With all my heart._

*******

Doctors and nurses swarmed her bedside. The covers flew off her body. The monitors were going crazy in the background. Some were shouting “there’s no pulse”, “she’s not breathing” and “call a code!” Someone started doing chest compressions while counting aloud. Another person was messing with a defibrillator. And another was using a bag valve mask to ventilate Cerys from her endotracheal tube while someone else was pushing drugs into her IV. When the rhythm was right, her heart was given a shock to correct it. When it made her flatline, CPR was resumed. Sam and Rita cowered in the corner, weeping silently yet forcefully. Dean was about to rush into the room, but when he saw Cerys being worked on, he just stood in the doorway, suddenly unable to move. He could feel his own tears coming on. Normally he would fight them, but he let them fall. _This can’t be happening again. Not now. Not after everything that’s happened_ , Dean thought. He looked over and saw his brother and niece. And his heart broke for them.

After about 10 minutes of trying to revive Cerys, they were just about to call it, sending loud wails from Rita’s tiny frame. Sam tried his best to console her but it was futile, as he was in just as much a mess as she was. But then…

“We’ve got a pulse.”

The monitors went back to a steady yet fast paced beeping. The Winchesters dried their eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. When the medical staff left the room after making sure Cerys was stable (or as stable as she was going to be) Sam decided enough was enough.

He closed his eyes and spoke aloud, “Castiel. We need your help. If you can hear me-”

“Hello Sam.”

The sound of the rustling of wings, a slight unnatural breeze blew through, and the trenchcoat clad angel was standing before them. He looked around the room before greeting everyone.

“Hello Dean. It’s good to see you again.” He spoke in his usual monotone voice. After he let Dean give him a hug, his fierce blue eyes settled on Rita. “You must be Annaryetta Millie Winchester. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.” He smiled sweetly at young child.

“Hello,” Rita responded, in her most respectable voice. It made Sam proud that she recognized greatness when she saw it.

“You have grown so much. In more ways than one.” Cass said. Then he turned around and saw Cerys. Without speaking, he approached her bedside. He placed a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. Sam and Dean watched him intently.

“So…” Sam began, “can you…”

“I’m sorry Sam.” Cass replied, removing his hand from Cerys’ face. “There’s nothing I can do. Cerys’ death…is imminent.”


	7. Soulmates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone being patient with me. I will be starting the next chapter here real soon. Thanks for all the kudos and kind words everyone has left! Love y'all! Hugs <3 xx

_Out in the pastures, I can see luscious fields of green grass, surrounded by clear blue skies. I walk across the field barefoot in my ritual dress and cloak. It’s a good day to meditate and practice magic. In the center of the field, my set up is already made. Blanket with a devil trap knitted in the center, a small table with my altar in all its full splendor. As I approach, the wind blows through my hair, long and flowing. I harness that energy into my will. I bring my feet up to sit Indian style but I am no longer touching the ground. I float in the air and meditate. I breathe in and out slowly and deeply. I can feel my own heartbeat steadying among the elements. The warmth of the sun, the coolness of the breeze, the grass that tickled my feet as I walked, the single tear sliding down my face as the beauty of it all is too perfect to imagine. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. I am one with all of the Elements of Magic._

********

“What do you mean, imminent? There’s nothing you can do?” Sam said, frustrated.

“Her illness isn’t caused by something an angel’s Grace can cure. It’s something…foreign to me.” Cas knew the Winchesters wouldn’t want to hear this. They constantly relied upon him to fix ailments of all kinds. But, Castiel being Castiel, he always tells it like it is, whether it was his intention or not.

“Then what can be done? She can’t die. You gotta give us something to go on.” Dean chimed in, finally able to move after Cerys’ cardiac arrest episode.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much that can be done. But what I can do is make inquiries as to what is wrong. Then we can maybe come up with a solution. Allow me.” Cas approached Cerys again. He closed his eyes and put one hand across her chest, and the other he used two fingers to touch her forehead.  He peered into her soul, her very core, to find the problem. Then he felt. The purest of foul magic plaguing her. It was deeper than anything he’d ever seen or felt. This…abomination of a curse…was rotting her very soul. He now had an idea of what they were dealing with. “I need to make inquiries about this. I’ll be back shortly.” But before anyone could respond, he vanished.

“Damnit Cas.” Dean said.

“Would be nice for him to tell us more before be disappears.” Sam sighed.

“What’s wrong with Mama?”

Both men turned around to see Rita still huddled in the corner of the room. They kinda forgot she was there, she’d been so silent. Understandable, but still.

“We don’t know yet, sweetheart.” Sam walked over to his daughter and picked her up. Rita nuzzled her head into the crook of Sam’s neck. Rita was afraid to even look at her mother. Her current state of being was painful to see. “But we’re gonna figure this out. We always do. Right Dean?”

“Damn right.” Dean walked over towards the pair. He stroked Rita’s hair gently. “Don’t worry princess. Your mom’s in good hands. And I don’t just mean the doctors here.” He winked at her, causing Rita to smile. Then he gave Sam a look of concern, one that read _I hope we’re right._ For good reason too. Any problem that they’ve ever dealt with, there was always a solution tucked away somewhere. But they didn’t even know where to start with Cerys’ condition. And the longer they stalled, the higher the risk of losing her once and for all.

*******

_It was the usual. I’d taken up a contract for a vengeful spirit that was haunting a local tavern. The old bar was actually abandoned and the townsfolks normally didn’t care, but said spirit had decided it was bored and started prowling the streets, spooking anyone with the slightest bit of supernatural ability. It didn’t pay well, but I needed the money. My line of work was very atypical. There weren’t very many witches for hire these days. But if you knew the right people and the price was right, you wouldn’t have to wait for hunters to catch wind of their problem. Hunters. I spat at the notion. While they meant well, they were killing my business. Hunters were rarely thanked for their work, let alone paid. In fact most, if not all of them that I knew of, lived off of credit card fraud and hustling, be it pool, poker, darts, whatever. I was proud to make an honest living being exactly who I was meant to be.  I make my way through the dilapidated establishment, with my Witch’s senses as alert as I can make them. There didn’t seem to be any traces of paranormal activity here. Then I heard a noise. I thought it was the ghost at first, but upon closer listening, it sounded like footsteps. Shit. Fucking hunters showed up to the party. One they weren’t invited to._

_I readied my will to conjure up a fireball just in case they gave me trouble. I was_ not _losing this contract. But I also wasn’t entirely prepared to kill an innocent hunter doing their job for it either. As soon as she heard whoever it was entering the building come close, I jumped out into the open, my fireball ready to go. Smart move? Not entirely. I was still vulnerable to shotgun wounds. But I was acting on instinct. But instead of firing off my magic like I normally would, I came face to face with the most gorgeous hazel eyes a man could physically have and still be male._

_“Shit!” He exclaimed. He leveled his sawed off shotgun at my face. “Who are you?”_

_“I should be asking you that considering you’re interrupting my hunt.”_

_“Your hunt?” He lowered his gun and looked me dead in the eyes._

_Big mistake._

_It didn’t take long for the Soulgaze to initiate. It was an inherited part of a Witch’s power. When you make direct eye contact with a witch for longer than a few seconds, you become sucked into it, allowing you to see inside their soul. And a witch can do the same. A huge rush of images, memories, and emotions overtook my vision. A room on fire, an old black muscle car, two men in suits, one of them tied to a chair with fully enveloped black eyes screaming, another man with a greying head of hair and beard being pronounced dead in a hospital, the same young man killing a hunter in cold blood. I could hear the beating of my gazer’s heart racing in my head, his breathing rapid and shallow. Then, it all went away. And the man with the beautiful hazel eyes collapse to the ground._

_It took a moment for me to regain my bearings. I was used to the after effects of a soulgaze. You do them enough times, passing out becomes laughable. Amateurs, I normally thought. But this man… instead of stepping over him and moving on, I was kneeling by his side. Unless I’m told, I have no idea what a gazer sees when they look upon my soul. I’ve done some pretty horrendous things in my life. And anything that I’ve done, seen, or felt, can easily be seen. The memories brought up in a gaze are random. He could’ve seen anything. I checked his pulse to make sure the gaze didn’t kill him. Relief washed over me when I found it. Steady, strong, full of life. Then I took a look at his face and noticed how exceptionally handsome he was. He had a bony facial structure but it complimented his muscular body. He had light stubble on his face, full lips that made me curious of how a kiss from him would taste, his long chestnut colored hair appeared to be soft and had a slight perfume to it, one that I could not identify. Another compliment to his features. Before I could say anything to arouse him, I heard another voice and a set of heavy running footsteps coming towards us._

_“Sam? Sammy?!” The man, slightly shorter, just as muscular, with short spiky hair, rushed to his side and I immediately got out of his way. Before he could see if his partner was alive, the rugged hazel eyed man took in a ragged breath and opened his eyes. He looked around, as if he’d forgotten where he was, then looked at me again, startled. I just stared at him coldly, a gesture that apparently made me look threatening. It usually got me out of situations where magical weaponry wasn’t necessary. The shorter man helped him up, then they both regarded me with hard stares. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it right at me. “Who the hell are you? Your answer will depend on whether or not I put you down.”_

_“Again, I should be asking you guys that. This is my hunt and you’re interfering with it.”_

_“Dean…” hazel eyes said in a tired voice. So apparently this gorgeous specimen was named Sam, and his partner was named Dean._ I’ll remember that, _I thought to myself._

_“If you’ve done anything to my brother, I’ll fucking kill you bitch.”_

_“Such foul language. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Not realizing that hit a nerve, Dean took me by the throat and slammed me against a nearby pillar. There was a deep seated hatred in his eyes. I decided not to make direct eye contact with him, less he suffer the same fate Sam did. So not partners, but brothers._

_“I could easily end you, bitch.” Dean spat. Sam apparently had snapped out of his stupor because he was trying to get Dean off of me._

_“But you won’t. Otherwise you would’ve shot me when you had the chance.” I said slyly. I flicked my hand a bit and suddenly his gun was out of his hand, floating in mid-air, aimed directly between the eyes. I noticed he also had beautiful eyes, a bright green hue that showed the anger rolling off of him in droves._

_“DEAN!”_

_“WHAT?!”_

_“She was clearly here first. Maybe we should let this one go.”_

_“Your brother seems to be the one with the brains.”_

_“Shut it, bitch.”_

_“Dean, please. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” The way his eyes showed mercy was pretty heart wrenching, I had to admit. It appeared Sam had used this trick many times before. Enough to be practiced at it. Dean regarded me for a moment, then held up his hands._

_“Alright, alright. We’re leaving.” Dean slowly pulled a knife out of his pocket “I’m disarming myself. Don’t shoot me.” He slowly lowered the knife to the ground. It was a very pretty knife, and given the designed etched into it, I realized it was a demon-killing knife. Sam started doing the same thing, removing the gun from the back of his pants and lowering it to the ground slowly. Then he also put his hands up. I took a long look at both of them, then made the gun pointed at Dean turn around so the handle was within grabbing distance. Then I made all the other weapons float towards them. They got the hint, realizing I was giving them back their arms. They replaced them and I relaxed._

_“Actually,” I said with a smile, completely changing my demeanor from intimidating witch to sweetheart. “I could use a bit of help. True, I’ll lose money on this contract but-”_

_“Contract?” Dean asked._

_“You make money doing this?” Sam asked next._

_I explained to them what I did. They seemed very fascinated with my story. Apparently hunting for legitimate money was a new concept to them. When they inquired about how they could get into it, I had to disappoint them when I told them it was for witches only._

_“My name is Cerys. Cerys Blake. I truly mean no harm. This time.” I extended my hand for them to shake. I worried if they would shake it and almost pulled it away before Sam stepped forward in front of his brother and shook it._

_“I’m Sam. It’s nice to meet you Cerys.” Sam smiled at me for the first time. And I almost melted on the spot. His smile lit up the entire long forgotten building. It was breathtaking. “That’s a beautiful name.”_

_I blushed slightly. “My mother was never one for what she called ‘common names’.”_

_Dean rolled his eyes at the flirtation. “I’m Dean.” He extended his hand for me to shake. Both men had firm grips. It was comforting. “So now that introductions are out of the way… how can we help?”_

*******

“Abduxuel’s Smite” Cas said after he reappeared before the Winchesters.

“Bless you,” Dean said dryly. Sam gave him his standard, and well warranted, bitchface.

“No, it’s a demonic infectious disease. Cerys had to’ve been exposed to his slime, copious amount of it, which is a toxic combination of all kinds of abominable fluids only found in Hell. All of the symptoms that Cerys has gone through coincide with the diagnosis.”

“So, what can we do?” Sam asked. He was sitting at Cerys’ bedside, holding her hand, which was still cool to the touch. Rita was sleeping on the couch on the other side of the room.

“Nothing physically.” Castiel took a deep breath before continuing. “The disease traps its victim within their subconscious.”

“Their subconscious? Like a mind block?” Sam questioned.

“In a way. From the victim’s point of view, they’re comatose therefore they aren’t aware of their predicament. While trapped, they’re reliving their greatest moments in their life thus far.”

“Well it can’t be all sunshine and rainbows. What’s the catch?” Dean said.

“Being trapped in the subconscious has taxing effects on the physical body. It cannot survive in this state for long periods of time. It consumes the life force of the victim.” Castiel looked away from the brothers. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this…but Cerys is dying. Unless we get her to wake up, she’ll be dead in a matter of days.”

*******

_The hunt went very smoothly with the Winchesters tagging along. They were quite the professionals, their apparent years of hunting expertise showing through seamlessly. Although sadly the old beat up tavern was demolished in the process. But in Cerys’ mind, as long as the monster that was being hunted went away for good, everything else was just icing on the cake. Or collateral damage._

_While the men followed me to my employer’s place to collect payment for the completed job, they waited out of sight. Slipping 3 $20 bills into my pocket, I left the old man a bunch of my business cards for future reference, hoping he’d pass them around and, just maybe, I’d earn myself another contract. I walked out of his place of business (a barber shop, if you can believe it) with my head held high and a huge smile on my face. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good. And you’d think that the owner of a subpar barber shop in the middle of a small one horse town wouldn’t be packing so much dough. But it wasn’t my place to judge. I came in, did the job I was hired to do, collected pay, and moved onto the next one. I decided that it was fair to split the earning with the handsome brothers. I could’ve been a dick about it, made some sob story as to how I barely made enough to feed myself, let alone keep up my magic supply stock, but I was always a bad liar. I took pride in doing honest work, and part of that honesty was paying my debts. Sure, this meant that my almost empty spice rack that I kept filled with potion ingredients was going to have to stay bare for a little bit longer, and replacing my knife sharpening kit after it was eaten by a troll was gonna be put on hold, but I didn’t mind. I’d been lucky enough not to need potions or silver blades for my recent contracts, and I prayed to the Gods that it stayed that way._

_“Here,” I called out walking towards the Impala. I divided up the 20s between the 3 of us._

_“What’s this for?” Sam asked._

_“Sammy shut up” Dean tried to grunt under his breath but failed. I cracked a smile._

_“I’ve never had anyone help me on a contract before. And since I think you guys did good work, it’s only fair that you be compensated for your time. I mean, you didn’t have to stay and help. And I could’ve just killed you for interrupting my work.” I looked at them both. Part of me was hoping they’d refuse the money for my own deeply buried selfish reasons. But the other part of me hoped they’d accept it. They truly did deserve the money. Considering they never got thanked for their work, let alone paid._

_“How about this. Let’s go get some victory food together, and call it even.” Sam said, holding up his hand indicating he wasn’t about to take any money._

_I’d pondered on it for a moment. But then agreed. We ended up hitting a small burger joint. They’d caught wind of a hunt in southeast Georgia and were going to be leaving town the following morning. Before I could stop myself, I asked to tag along. “You know, return the favor!” I exclaimed._

_“Well, this next hunt is supposed to be pretty tough,” Sam said. “Dean?”_

_“Alright, but just this once. We’re not one to tag along with other hunters. Especially one who’s a witch.”_

_Little did the boys know, I would end up never leaving._

_*******_

The three of them were gathered around Cerys’ bedside. Time was slowly ticking away as her life hang in the balance. Dean had Rita in his lap. They were coloring in a coloring book that he had picked up while on a food run, to Sam’s amusement. Sam had been a stone statue since Castiel dropped that bombshell on them. His mind had been feverishly thinking of a way to save Cerys. There was no lore or any information about Abduxuel himself, let alone any smiting he was capable of doing. They were at a standstill with no options. Sam had considered making a deal with a crossroads demon, but he figured he’d learned his lesson from his older brother. Besides, he knew Cerys would never forgive him if he’d sold what little soul he had left, his life for hers. Assuming his soul was worth anything to a crossroads demon. The thought of dying yet again really had no meaning to him, but try explaining that to his family.

While Dean and Rita were busy making artful work of the coloring book, he too was pondering ways to save the woman he thought needed to be his sister in law. Without deal-making. They really needed to make it a signed contract between him and Sam. When his mind drew up blanks, he looked up and Sam. He looked so exhausted. Had he lost weight? Dean couldn’t tell, but in the last several weeks since Rita showed up, all the chaos had taken its toll on his little brother.  And all he could do was watch….

“What’s wrong Uncle Dean?” Rita said, snapping Dean out of his trance.

“Nothing, princess. Just got a lot on my mind.”

“I know the feeling.”

“How does a pretty little 5-year-old such as yourself have a lot of her mind?”

“I have learned that comes with being a Winchester.” Rita smiled up at her uncle, and it made Dean’s heart melt. He thought it should scare him that a child looked up to him, but he was rather fond of the idea.

“You’re not wrong, sweetie. You’re not wrong.”

*******

_I had long since abandoned my contract seeking ways and decided to hunt Winchester style, if you wanted to call it that. They’d made me my own fake IDs, took me shopping for Fed costumes, and before long, I was a part of their team. Dean had a hard struggle with me sticking around, more than he led on. He wasn’t fond of witches. Sam told me stories of how much he hated them. Some of the stories I’d experienced myself, and some of them went as far as to make me cringe, which didn’t happen easily. You had to have thick skin in order to do our line of work. Sam and I hit it off right away, quickly becoming close friends. We both had a huge love for reading, research was a piece of cake when we worked together, and I learned that we could talk to each other about anything._

_He fell for me first. I didn’t know how to feel about it initially. He was supposed to be my hunting partner, not my lover. But before I knew it, he was asking me out on a date and I couldn’t refuse. We had a lovely time together. We were both fond of quiet solitude. So dinner on a blanket in the park outside a town we completed a hunt in was perfect. I made sure it was as secluded as it could be because the floating candles lighting our meal would’ve drawn a lot of unwanted attention, spoiling the whole solitude mood. After dinner we went for a walk, taking the blanket with us. When I found a patch of open forest with a perfect view of the starry sky, I insisted we lay down and watch them. Sam helped me lay the blanket out and we laid down together, at first with a few inches of space between us, but before we knew it, we were holding hands._

_“Sam?”_

_“Mhm?”_

_“Thank you.”_

_“For what?” He turned onto his side to face me. I cocked my head to face his. Goddess, his eyes were so beautiful. You could see every hue they held even in the darkest of night. It was really something to behold._

_“For all this. For accepting me for who I am. For caring about me when no one else did. For making such awesome food. Has anyone ever told you you’re a kickass cook?”_

_He chuckled. “Dean usually cooks, and he always makes fun of me because all I eat is ‘rabbit food.’ I’ll never apologize for caring about what I eat.”_

_“Nor should you!”_

_We stared at each other for a good moment. Not making eye contact, of course. Wouldn’t want a repeat of the first time they met…_

_That’s when he kissed me. At first it was just a peck on the cheek. I guess for him to get a feel for how I would feel about it. But then it blossomed forward. I kissed him back on the lip and…oh my. His lips were soft and warm, with just the right amount of moisture to make them too irresistible to stop. He pulled me in closer, wrapping his hands around the back of my neck and the small of my back. I laced my fingers through his hair and continued kissing him, noting that his hair was as soft as his lips were. How the hell was this guy so perfect, given all he’s been through? I didn’t care at that moment. Kissing turned into making out. Then he ended up on top of me, not pausing to take a breath. He started to get rough in his touching, biting my lip and pulling my hair. I returned the favor, grabbing his ass and growling. He smiled beneath my lips. I smiled back. I knew right then that our fates were sealed. We would be together forever._  
  


*******

It had been 24 hours since Castiel was the bearer of bad news. Cerys’ condition hadn’t improved at all, but she also didn’t crash again. Dean and Rita were asleep on the pullout couch together. Rita told Dean that she was afraid to go to sleep but she could barely keep her eyes open. So Dean laid down with her and sang “Smoke on the Water” to her until she inevitably passed out. Dean was out not too long after her. Sam, desperate for Cerys’ touch, managed to move her over to the edge of the hospital bed and he laid down next to her. It wasn’t hard, despite all the tubes and wires attached to her body. She’d lost some weight being in her condition. She was never heavy set but Sam could tell she wasn’t the healthy weight she had been when he last saw her. She was so frail and fragile he was almost afraid he would break her. He knew she’d scoff at such a notion but he couldn’t help but feel that way. Lying next to her, he was preparing himself. This may very well be the last time he’s ever next to her alive. She may never wake up. And it scared the hell out of him. He let the tears pooling in the corners of his eyes fall freely. There was no point in hiding how he felt. He didn’t care who say him. He was about to lose his soulmate. Again.

Then it hit him. _Soulmate._ He pondered on the thought. And it made him crack a small smile. _Cerys is my soulmate. I love her so much. I never stopped. I spent so many years being angry for her leaving, mostly because I didn’t know why. But I should’ve never doubted her motives. She always had good intentions, and she would never lead us astray. I know this now._ He looked at her, leaned over and kissed her forehead. She felt unusually warm. It wouldn’t surprise him in the slightest if she was running a fever. But that was the least of her worries. “I love you Cerys.” He whispered. _You’re my soulmate. I will love you forever and always._ Despite his height and the size of the bed, he got comfortable and snuggled up next to her.

They were all almost asleep when the familiar sound of wings flapping a breeze shook Sam out of his almost unconscious state.

“I may have a solution.”

“Well hello to you too Cass. We’re doing fine, by the way. Thanks for asking.” Dean yawned. He inched off of the couch, careful not to wake his sleeping niece. Apparently the angel didn’t stir her out of her dreams.

“Not to be rude Cas, but start talking.” Sam also edge his way off the bed. He was in no mood to screw around. If there was a solution, the sooner it was acted upon the better. “Cerys is running out of time.”

“I managed to find some lore on the infection,” Cas began. “Only the victim’s one true soulmate can rescue them from their demise. But it won’t be easy.”

Everyone looked at Sam.

“What?”

“Dude,” Dean smirked. “Don’t tell me we gotta spell it out for you.”

“Dean does have a point.” Cas said. “You’re the only one with a personal, intimate connection to Cerys.”

“Yeah I guess so.” Sam sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “If anyone would be her soulmate, it would be me.” He looked Castiel in the eyes, a serious look on his face. “What do I do?”

“You will be entering Cerys’ subconscious. You will do everything in your power to convince her to wake up. When she awakes, the spell will be broken and she will be fully healed, cured of the infection.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Dean said. Sam swallowed hard.

“There is a chance, if you’re in her subconscious for too long, that you could suffer the same fate. You only have a window of maybe 10 minutes to get her out. Otherwise…” Castiel let his words trail. He really hated disappointing the Winchesters.

“Cerys and I will both be trapped forever” Sam finished.

“Essentially killing you both,” Dean said.


	8. Sacrifices

Chapter 8: Sacrifices

 

 “I fucking hate this idea, Sammy.” It was a few hours later. Dean was holding Rita in his arms, as she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her uncle’s arms were becoming her new favorite place to rest. Sam was positioned next to Cerys’s bedside. He was going to be sitting in a chair, as close to her as he could. He would have a hand across her forehead and the other hand over her heart, making the psychological and emotional connections to be transported (so to speak) into Cerys’ subconscious. Castiel would then speak an incantation that would make the transport happen. What was to happen next, no one knew.

“Join the club, dude. But this is our best bet. And I’m willing to take it.” Before Sam sat down, he walked over to Dean and Rita, taking his daughter into his arms. He hugged her tight and kissed her on the head. “Everything is going to be alright, Rita. I’m going to bring Momma back.”

“I know Daddy.” Rita said with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. “Be safe, okay? I love you.” Rita kissed Sam on the cheek. Sam hugged her a little tighter, feelings his own tears threatening to spill out.

“I love you too, princess.” And with that, Sam handed his daughter back to her uncle. “Take care of her, Dean. Whatever happens.”

“Oh please, don’t talk like you’re already dead dude.” But Sam could tell his brother was not taking this well. Once again, he was risking his life to save another. And Dean had no right to try and stop him. Dean clapped his brother on the shoulder. Then Sam made his way back to Cerys.

“You know, I was angry for a long time,” Sam spoke out loud, getting everyone’s attention. “I felt abandoned. I beat myself up over it, thinking I caused her to leave. In a way I did, but not in the way I originally thought.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Without her leaving, I wouldn’t have the amazing daughter I have.” He looked up at Rita and smiled. Rita had tears streaming down her innocent face. And it only reinforced his decision. “I can’t promise a future with Cerys. But I can promise that whatever happens, things will work out in the end. They always do.” He looked up at Castiel, who was wearing a sympathetic expression on his face. “I’m ready.”

Castiel nodded and put his hands out in front of him, palms up. “Take your position, Sam.” He did just that, placing each hand where they were before. He could feel the weak and slow beating of her heart beneath his palm. It made his own skip. He remembered how much he loved feeling and listening to it. Like a musical that played out a song just for him. He suddenly longed to have her back so it would beat stronger.

When Castiel started reciting the incantation that would take him into Cerys’ mind, he immediately started feeling the effects. He was getting sleepy, nodding off a bit. He tried opening his eyes, but they refuse to obey. He would have no memory of the incantation recital being completed.

********

_I woke up in a field somewhere. Ireland maybe? I don’t know. I didn’t feel like I was alive. But I put my hand over my own heart just to make sure I didn’t die. When I felt it beating, I started walking, trying to get a sense of where I was. After what seemed like an eternity, I saw a small cobblestone house on a hill. It was the only one for miles around. If this alternate universe was supposed to be Cerys’ mind, then that had to be where she was. Cerys always wanted to go visit Ireland. She believed her name was Irish._

_I was nervous at first, but when I saw her in the window, the beautiful sight of her made all that tension go away. She was doing something in the kitchen, but I wasn’t sure what._

_“Here goes something,” I said to myself as I approached the front door, giving it a few raps with my knuckles._

_“It’s open!” I heard from inside. She must’ve been busy otherwise she would’ve answered it herself. I guess some things about her never changed._

_I slowly opened the door and walked inside. It was a cozy modest home. And it was immaculately clean. The furniture was a little older but well cared for. There was no television set, or even a radio, but everywhere I looked there was a bookshelf that stood as tall as the ceiling and covered with books. I counted 6 of those around the room. That’s one thing Cerys and I had in common: our love for reading.   One thing we didn’t seem to share was her OCD streak when it came to cleaning. Not that I was a messy person persay, that was my brother. Heh. But the bunker was never dirty when we weren’t hunting. She always handled the dishes, the laundry, general housework was something Dean and I never had to worry about. Even if we did, I’m sure Cerys would’ve handled it before we could go find so much as a broom. Which was a big job for just one person, given the massive size of the bunker._

_I walked into the kitchen where I heard the clanking of pots and pans, and a tea kettle whistling on what looked like a woodfire stove. I assumed there was no electricity in this house as the chandelier in the living room had real candles burning on it, and an oil lamp or two lit in each room I passed. If she wasn’t a witch, I would’ve wondered how she managed to light the chandelier. I watched her for a moment, taking in her beauty. She moved the kettle off the stove and set it down on a pot holder on the counter, which I could only assume was lined with faux-granite tile. Then she took a spoon and stirred something in a large cast-iron pot. I inhaled the air around me and smelled meat, potatoes, carrots… it was a stew. And it smelled good enough to make my stomach rumble._

_Before I could get her attention, she turned around, and looked me right in the eyes._

_I smiled as big as I could._

_“Hello, beautiful.”_

*******

“What the fuck is taking so long? He should’ve been out of there by now.” Dean was getting frustrated. He approached his brother seemingly unconscious form. He made a shocking discovery.

“Cas, Sam’s not breathing.”

Before anyone could say anything more, Sam slumped over, falling to the floor close to Cerys’ bed. The chaos that follows sends Rita into fight-or-flight mode. And she flees the room, sobbing. There was no telling where she’d run off to.

It was about an hour later. Dean was secretly glad that they put Cerys in a very large room when she was admitted. Because there was enough room for another body to be on life support. He made sure that Cerys and Sam lay side by side in the event one of them were to wake up. But at this point, he was doubtful, which scared him shitless. Sam’s heart had stopped before he even hit the floor. The medical professionals had worked on him for a solid 20 minutes before he had a pulse again. They would’ve given up on him if Dean hadn’t been yelling at them to keep going.

_“DON’T YOU DARE GIVE UP ON MY LITTLE BROTHER. HE’S GOT A CHILD TO TAKE CARE OF ONCE HIS WIFE WAKES UP! NO ONE IN THIS ROOM IS LEAVING TIL HE’S ALIVE AGAIN, YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!”_

Soon after Sam was settled in, so to speak, Dean noticed a very timid and scared Rita peering in through the doorway. Dean assumed she’d left during the crisis and was just now emerging. She was a mess. Her eyes were as puffy and red as they could ever be, no doubt from crying really hard. She was shaking so bad you could physically see it. She just stared open-mouthed at the unconscious forms of her parents. Dean rushed to her side as she began to cry again.

“Hey, little princess. Shh, it’s alright. Come see Uncle Dean.” His voice was soft and gentle. He crouched down and opened his arms wide for Rita to embrace. She slowly walked towards him, now trying to avoid looking at her mother and father. When she finally reached Dean, he gently closed his arms in around her, and she sobbed once more. He stroked the back of her head, trying to smooth over the tangles in her hair. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back with the other hand. “Why don’t we go for a walk? Give your folks…some time to rest…”

“No.” Rita said firmly. This took Dean by surprise. “I…I can’t leave them here alone. I have to stay here.”

Dean wanted to argue, believing it would do the poor girl some good to go play in a park for a while, take her mind off it all. But he decided against it. Annaryetta was a Winchester and Winchesters are tougher than the average Joe Blow human. If she was determined to see them wake up…or not… then he wouldn’t stop her.

Later that night, Cerys’ condition had deteriorated significantly. Her vital signs were next to nothing, and the doctors had determined nothing short of a miracle could bring her out of her coma. When they tried talking to Dean about his ‘sister in law’s affairs and final arrangements,’ he threw a chair at them, forcing them to leave. Fortunately, they decided not to call security.

Sam wasn’t any better. After he was revived, it was taking a damn near lethal number of cardiac drugs to keep his heart beating. There was severe damage where his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys were concerned. There was no telling what the permanent side effects of said drugs could do to him. He didn’t have any signs of brain damage, though it was only a matter of time. It took the docs 3 whole minutes to start oxygenating him after he stopped breathing, which made him damn lucky. They were concerned post arrest damage might develop. There was also no swelling either from when he collapsed, even though he hit his head hard on the rolling table by Cerys’ bed. And of course, to top it all off, he was at high risk of going back into cardiac arrest. The longer he was out, that risk climbed higher. Because when you’re a Winchester, nothing is ever fucking simple.

Once again, Sam was fighting for his life. All because he chose to save another.

*******

_“You’re finally home! Why did you knock on your own front door? Kinda weird.” Cerys exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around me. It felt so good. She was so warm and soft. And she smelled of cinnamon and freshly sliced honeydew apples. It was intoxicating to say the least. Then reality came back to me and realized what she’d said._

_“What do you mean?” I released her from my grip._

_“Well you said you were going for a walk, and it seemed like you were gone a long time. Lunch is almost ready. And the kids should be up from their nap soon.”_

_Before I could question what she meant by ‘kids,’ I heard a huge amount of stomping coming from somewhere on the other side of the house. Guess this place is bigger on the inside._

_“Oh I guess they’re already up and at ‘em. Can you go and make sure they’re not tearing apart their bedrooms please? Thanks!” She gave me a quick peck on my cheek and shooed me out of the kitchen. I walked back into the living room and immediately found a narrow hallway that led to 3 bedrooms. They were all at the end, which left a lot of hallway walls covered in pictures to look at. One the left side of the wall, it looked like it was dedicated to Cerys and me. Candid photos of us framed. Some of them I remember, some of them I’d never seen before. They were all surrounded by the biggest frame in the center of the wall. She was wearing a strapless off-white gown and a veil that was flowing from the very top of her head and a tiara to about mid-calf. She held a bouquet of blue roses at her side and her other arm was around my back. I stood in the photo wearing a tuxedo with a blue rose pinned to the left side of my chest, with one hand in my pants pocket and the other across her upper back and resting on her shoulder, holding her close. We were standing in what looked like a forest in the heart of autumn, brown and red leaves floating from the surrounding trees all around us, with our foreheads touching and our eyes closed._

_It was our wedding photo. Had to be._

_I suddenly found it was hard to breathe. Cerys looked so amazingly beautiful it was hard to believe she was real. But then I reminded myself. This wasn’t real. This was Cerys’ subconscious and she was living out her life’s greatest moments. I guess the curse lets you live out your wildest dreams too?_

_I turned around and look at the opposite wall. It was filled with pictures in a similar array like the wall of us. Only instead of one giant photo in the center, there were 3 giant ones surrounded by smaller framed ones. I recognized Rita right away. She looked a lot older in the big one. Eight, maybe nine years old? Below the big picture was a brass plaque that read_ Annaryetta Millie Winchester. _All of Rita’s baby photos were of just her and Cerys. At least that part of her past was true. Cerys never told me I was Rita’s father til she teleported into the bunker. I moved along the wall and came face to face with the other two photos. Identical twin boys. And they appeared to be the spitting image of me. Brown hair, hazel eyes, cheesy grins each with a matching set of dimples._ _Man, why did the one trait I wish I could do without have to be passed along to my children? But looking back at the photos, I had to admit they looked good on them. I noticed they had the same brass plaques their sister had. And when I read the names_ Leonard Alphonse Winchester _and_ Robert Castiel Winchester _, my heart soared high above the clouds._

_“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” I jumped at the sound of Cerys’ voice behind me. She came up and wrapped her arms around my waist. I placed my hands over hers. “I had them made recently. Thanks for hanging them up. I love how you arranged all the photographs on the wall.”_

_“Uh, yeah…no problem baby.” I decided to just go along with this whole thing._

_“Rita! Leo! Bobby! It’s time for lunch! Come out here! Don’t make me tell you twice!” Cerys called from where we were._

 

********

 

Rita had a chair between her parents’ beds. She was holding both of their hands. Dean had fallen asleep on the pullout couch. The sounds of Sam and Cerys’ heart monitors and ventilators and Dean’s snoring where the only sounds that filled the room. It was eerie to say the least and it shook Rita to the bone. She knew she had to be brave. And then it hit her. She was about to lose both parents. Forever.

Panic started to fill her tiny body. The panic only worsened when she looked at them both fully for the first time. She screamed.

“I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! I CAN’T JUST LET THEM DIE!” The shouting woke Dean up, but before he could say or do anything, Rita ran out of the room, her sobs echoing down the halls. Dean, in a sleepy haze, tried to follow her, but by the time he made it to the hallway, Rita was nowhere to be found.

********

It was a good 10 minutes before Rita realized she was lost. In her blind panic, she managed to run out of the hospital, around the corner and down 2 blocks before coming to a halt, completely void of comfortable breathing. She needed to think of something, anything magical that could save her parents. She thought back to the lessons that Cerys had taught her in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. Then she thought, _maybe it isn’t anything I’ve learned per say. Maybe it’s something I need to come up with on my own._ Creating your own spell was always difficult and time consuming, and time was the one thing she didn’t have. The one thing Sam and Cerys didn’t have.  Instead of panicking, she decided to calm herself, calm her nerves, and focus. She sat down on the sidewalk and concentrated. She needed to try and communicate with the Gods. _Maybe that will help me!_ She thought hopefully. 

She started by blocking out all external sounds. People walking, talking, traffic coming and going, until the only thing she could hear was the sound of her rapidly beating heart. Her breathing tapered off to almost nothing. She induced herself into a trance. And then there was nothing…

********

Dean came running up the block. He had to ask almost everyone on the streets if they’d seen a black haired little girl running. When he turned the corner, he saw her. And she didn’t look good. She was whiter than a sheet of paper. And she was completely unmoving. He ran up to her and tried to shake her away, but to no avail. She didn’t budge. But she was cold. Very cold.

“Rita?!” Panic unintentionally crept up in his voice. He placed two fingers to the crook of her neck to feel her pulse. “Damnit, kid, your heart’s racing. WAKE UP!” He slapped at her face gently but enough that could snap her out of her trance. When that didn’t work, he gave up. He tried scooping her up into his arms to take her back to the hospital, but it was like she suddenly weighed ten tons. He couldn’t pick her up at all. But before he could do anything else, Rita emerged from her trance, wheezing a harsh breath loudly. Dean held her face in his hands, concern etched all over his face. She slowly opened her eyes, and they look glassy. “C’mon, we need to get you outta here. What the hell, princess? You scared me to death!” He grabbed her and held her close to his chest.

“Uncle Dean.” Rita said softly, her voice still not fully back yet. He looked down at her, stroking her hair.

“What is it, babygirl? It’s okay, you can tell me. I won’t be mad.”

“I know how to save Momma and Daddy.”

********

_I hadn’t had a good homecooked meal like that in…well, I couldn’t tell you. Cerys was never much for cooking when we were together. I get that had changed because she was very good at it. And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. All 3 of our children (which still blew my mind. We had 3 children together!) clutched at their bellies with big smiles on their faces. My sons were now throwing scraps at each other while their sister was keeping score._

_“Alright you three, that’s enough. Someone has to clean up this mess and it ain’t gonna be me!”_

_“Sorry Mommy.” Bobby said. Or at least I thought it was Bobby. It could’ve been Leo. How Cerys kept up with the identities of identical twins must be one of her Witch powers. “We can clean it up.”_

_“Without magic, Leo.” Cerys said as she got up to take dishes to the sink. I guess I got it wrong. Oops._

_“But Mommy, magic is fun!”_

_“You heard your mother,” I chimed in. The kids looked at me. “You know the rules.”_

_All three kids recited what I assumed was a rule in the house, perfectly and in sync. “No magic unless you’re dying.”_

_“That’s right. Now clean up this mess, please.” If we ever had more children in real life, I could get used to this._

_I got up as the boys started picking up scraps of food from the floor and depositing them into the trashcan. Rita got out the broom and dustpan and started sweeping after them. I was bringing dishes to Cerys as she started washing them by hand. I didn’t see a dishwasher anywhere so I was guessing this was the norm. There was a big drying rack to the right of the sink. I started drying the clean ones she set aside. I would’ve put them away immediately but I wasn’t sure where everything went._

_“Good work, you guys. Now go play. Quietly this time!” Cerys called out as the children fled the kitchen like it was on fire. I heard more stomping and laughter coming from the other part of the house. I smiled._

_“Cerys we need to talk.” I said seriously._

_“About what, hon?” Cerys didn’t look at me. She kept busying herself with dishes._

_“You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but I need you to go with me on this.”_

_“Okaaaay…. Are you feeling alright, love? You’ve been kind of off since you got home.”_

_“You’re in a dream world. None of this is real. I came here to rescue you. You’re dying.”_

_She almost dropped a dish, which would’ve shattered it. She looked up at me._

_“Oh yeah, you’re definitely getting sick.” She dried off her hands and placed a palm gently to my forehead, pushing my hair out of my face. I took her hand and held it._

_“No, I’m serious. Dead serious. You’re in a coma. You were poisoned and the poison is keeping you in this world. Don’t get me wrong, I am loving this world you’ve created. I really am. But if we don’t get back soon, we’re both going to die.” I gave her my best serious business face, hoping she would take me seriously. But she didn’t. Her face grew concerned._

_“I’m calling the doctor. He clearly needs to make another house call.” She tried to walk away to grab her cell phone, but I stopped her. “Sammy, you’re scaring me.”_

_“I’m not trying to, I swear. But I’m telling the truth. I came here to pull you out. It’s the only cure. At this point I’m probably dying too.”_

_“You’re not making any sense, Sam.” I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. Damn, I hate it when she cried. It was one of my weaknesses. And sometimes she used it against me to get her way. Stubborn woman. But she wasn’t this time. There was true fear in her face. I had to get her to calm down, get her to see reason. Her life depended on it. And so did mine._

********

Dean and Rita made it back to the hospital. A doctor was in the room, checking up on Sam and Cerys. The doc was adjusting Sam’s ventilator tubing and listening to his lungs with a stethoscope when uncle and niece came in.

“Doc please tell me you have good news.” Dean said, worried.

“I wish I did, son.” The doctor swung the stethoscope over his neck and walked over to Cerys, checking her pupils with his penlight. “Your brother is starting to show signs of cerebral edema. His brain is swelling, as we feared. And he’s not stable enough for surgery. We can make him as comfortable as we can, but I’m afraid there’s nothing more we can do. It’s up to him now.”

“What about my mom?” Rita said in a small voice. So small she almost wasn’t heard.

The doctor didn’t even acknowledge her. He started talking to Dean again. “Your sister in law isn’t fairing any better. If anyone of them were to be saved, your brother has a better-”

“Why are you telling me this?” Dean interrupted him, angry.

“Uhh…I’m sorry?”

“My niece is the one who asked you how her parents were doing. So I suggest you start acknowledging her as a very important part of my brother and sister in law’s case. Or we’re gonna have a problem.” Dean was glaring at him now, bringing his full height into play as he stared the doctor down. The doctor gulped, then slowly made eye contact with Rita. Rita could feel the uncomfortable emotions rolling off the doctor. He apparently he wasn’t accustom to dealing with children.

“I’m very sorry, little girl.”

“That’s Annaryetta Millie Winchester to you, overgrown mean man.” Rita spit back. She hated when people underestimated her because of her age. Dean smirked.

“Uh- ahem, okay, Annaryetta. I don’t think there’s a good chance your parents will survive this. Whatever this is. We still can’t determine its exact cause.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Rita said coolly, her confidence growing. “Because I’m going to save them myself. I don’t expect much out of humans, anyway.”

The doctor’s face twisted into a condescending glare. “Annaryetta, I don’t think you have even the faintest idea of what’s going on here”

“Watch your tone, dickbag.” Dean growled. “I _will_ not tell you again.”

The doc glared back at Dean for a moment, then turned his attention back to Rita. “Even if you did, a little girl like you couldn’t fix something this catastrophic.” He seemed to puff his chest out like he was proud to stand up to a 5-year-old. _Prude,_ thought Dean.

“I’d expect that response out of someone who isn’t a Winchester. We Winchesters have never let dying stopped us from beating the odds. My Daddy and Momma are no exception.” Rita felt a surge of pride as the smug look on the doctor’s face slid off. Dean stood there looking a little stunned. _How much did Cerys tell her about us?_ He pondered.

“Now,” Rita continued. “Until you can come back here and tell me you know how to cure them, stay out of our way.” And with that she brushed aside the doc and took her place in her chair between Sam and Cerys. The doctor looked back at her, then up at Dean. Dean just laughed.

“I bet your manhood feels pretty tough, trying and failing to stand up to a 5-year-old.”

“What kind of parents raise their children to talk to adults like that? How disrespectful!”

“An old Marine veteran once told me that respect is earned. And those who don’t deserve it will never earn it.” Dean had a smug expression of his own now. “That vet was my father. And he raised me and Sam with that lesson. And it appears Cerys is no exception. You’re a fucking asshole and I don’t want you coming anywhere near my family again. I’m going to find my brother and sister in law a new doctor. One that doesn’t talk down to children. I see you in here so much as touching their monitors or their charts, I’ll rip your throat out and shred it to so many pieces none of your surgeon buddies will be able to fix it. Now get the hell out of here.”  And with that, the doctor practically ran from the room.

********

_“So, you’re saying that a demon has me trapped in this…alternate universe?”_

_Cerys and I were sitting at the kitchen table. The kids had stopped making noise, so I could only assume they were taking a nap. They sure do like their sleep. I managed to get her to calm down, then I made her some tea. Orange chamomile tea was always her favorite and it always kept her calm, especially when she went into ‘fits of magical rage’ as she put it._

_“Yeah. I’m sorry about all this. I know you want to believe this is real. But it isn’t.”_

_“Does this mean…” she began, but her voice caught in her throat it seemed. I saw another tear about to breech the corner of her eye. Before it did, I took a napkin and gently dabbed it. “Does this mean that my…our children will- will be gone?”_

_“Not all of them.” I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. “Rita is waiting for you on the other side. She misses you something awful.”_

_“What about Leo and Bobby?”_

_“They…they don’t exist I’m afraid. We just have Rita.” Before she could burst into tears again, I quickly jumped in “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have more! You’ll see.”_

_“Are…are we at least…you know…together?”_

_She had me there. I knew there was no easy way to tell her any of this, so I pressed on. “Not exactly. We… we had a falling out. Well, not us. You almost died during our last hunt together. And after that you…you just left. And didn’t come back.”_

_“I know that. I didn’t want to tell you I was pregnant with Rita. I didn’t want her anywhere near the Hunter’s life.” I blew out a breath of relief. One more thing that reflected reality. “But halfway during my pregnancy, I caved. I called you and told you. I thought you’d be mad, and never want to speak to me again. I thought you’d abandoned us for good. But you were overjoyed. You immediately dragged Dean to Colorado in Baby. I’ll never forget the look on your face when you saw me, just starting to show. You practically cried! And after that we got back together. Before Rita was born, you asked me to marry you. Then Rita was born and 6 months later we were married.”_

_And that’s where it stopped I guess. I wanted to find out more about this world, but I knew we were running out of time._

_“Forgive me love but tell me what happened after that. I tend to forget.”_

_“Huh, that’s not like you” Cerys eyed me with suspicion. “I’m still convinced you’re coming down with something, but I’ll leave it be. Anyway, so for a while we were just a three membered family. Then when Cerys was about 4, I found out I was pregnant again. By then we were already in the hill country of Colorado and we decided to build a house out here.”_

_Well I guess we weren’t in Ireland. Kind of made me sad. I wanted that for her._

_Cerys continued. “It was such a shock when we found out it was twins. I remember how panicky I was. You were always there to keep me calm. Telling me ‘it’s gonna be okay. I have a good paying job at the law firm so there’s no need for you to work after the babies are born. You can stay home with them like you’ve always wanted to. I’ve got this babe. You just focus on keeping those babies healthy.’ I always worried about our financial state, even though those worries were unfounded. And that worry always put a strain on my health.”_

_In my state of awe, I realized I’d let my objective slip. We needed to get out of here. But…_

_What if I wanted to stay too? I needed to make up my mind. And fast._

********

 

Dean watched Dr. Douchebag leave, then turned back to see Rita now laying in Sam’s bed, her head on his chest and her arm across his stomach. It was sad to see. Rita had only been with her father for a few weeks and now he was already dying, alongside her mother. That’s when he remembered what she was saying earlier.

“Rita?”

“Yes, Uncle Dean?”

“Why did you run off earlier? Before I could fully wake up, you were gone. And I found you on the streets. You were barely alive. Did someone hurt you?” Dean almost pittied the bastard who would’ve laid a hand on his niece. Because he was going to eviscerate them.

Rita sat up and faced Dean. “I had to induce myself into a trance to communicate with the Divine.”

“You mean, God?”

“No. Witches don’t see the Divine as a God in the human sense. It’s the raw power and driving force of the Universe. Momma always told me to communicate in life or death situations. And only if it was really needed. I figured…now was the perfect time.”

“And what did…the Divine say? Can they help?”

“They told me there was a ritual that only the kin of the afflicted can perform to cure them. I don’t need anything physical. Just pure magic and the incantation, which I already memorized.”

She got up from Sam’s bed and positioned herself between him and Cerys. But before she could do anything, Dean stopped her.

“Whoa whoa whoa, heh.” Dean began nervously. “Are you sure about this? You sure you can handle this? This is a pretty big deal and you could get hurt.”

“No I won’t. The Divine told me there would be no repercussions from this spell.” Rita said with a smile. But Dean knew better.

“Honey, this is the Universe, or whatever you call it, we’re talking about. We’re talking God level mojo. The Gods, or Divine, never just give something out of the goodness of their hearts, or spirits…or whatever.” Dean furrowed his brow. “They always want something in return.”

“Well not this time. If they wanted something in return, they would’ve told me. They’re always truthful.”

Dean at that moment saw Rita’s age show. She had no experience with dealing with divine creatures. Every single supernatural thing him and Sam had ever encountered that offered up their services always wanted something in return. Rita had made a deal with the Divine. And Dean just knew that something bad would come out of it. But they were out of time. Sam and Cerys were on their deathbeds. And since the doctors had given up, it was up to Rita Winchester to rescue them. He spoke not another word, just nodded at Rita to let her work.

 

_“Iarraim ar an diaga a dhéanamh ar mo tairisceana._   
_De réir mo chuid fola, scaoileadh mé dhuit ó do fulaingt._   
_Ag an cumhacht ag an ghealach agus an ghrian, leigheas agam ort!_   
_Tar amach ó do chodladh! Éirigh!”_

********

_It must have been sometime later in the evening. I’d helped Cerys make dinner and then we readied the kids for bed. Rita was such a good big sister. She helped bathe the boys and made sure they brushed their teeth. They couldn’t decide on which book they wanted me to read them, so she picked one out for me. The boys had a bunk bed. Leo was on the top bunk, with Bobby on the bottom. I sat in an old rocking chair and read them a story. Then kissed both boys goodnight before making sure Rita was tucked in. She looked so grown up from the little 5 year old that was in the real world. Her vocabulary was on par with that of a 15 year old who went to a college preparatory school. But she still apparently loved it when Daddy read to her. She was currently reading “The Lightening Thief” by Rick Riordan. Interesting to say the least. Fortunately she had a bookmark where we’d last left off, so I read her a chapter. When I was about to proceed to the next chapter, I felt something. Something…bad._

_It all happened at once. The room started spinning, the walls started melting, and I got these horrible headaches. Almost as bad as the old visions I used to have. I heard a thud from the other side of the room. And I knew that was Cerys collapsing on the floor. I tried to get up and go to her, but it seems I had a bad spell of vertigo because I was leaning to the left. By the time I got to Cerys, everything went black._

_I would never remember any of this._

********

It all happened so fast. There was a flash of very bright light. It sent Rita flying across the room. Dean was blasted back himself but managed to retain his bearings and stay on his feet. More or less. He heard the wall crumble and smash behind him. Before he could see what happened behind him, the sound of rapidly beeping monitors and people gagging filled the room. He looked up and saw Sam and Cerys sitting up in their beds, choking on their breathing tubes. They were very much awake and alive.

“SOMEBODY HELP!! HELP!!” Dean shouted. As the room was flooded with doctors and nurses to help Sam and Cerys. When Dean looked back at the far wall, he saw Rita lying in a pool of her own blood, lifeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The translation for the spell:  
> I call upon the divine to do my bidding.  
> By my blood, I release thee from your suffering.  
> By the power of the moon and sun, I cure you!  
> Come forth from your sleep! Arise!


	9. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who has kept up with this and have been patient with me. Life and work (and taking on a 2nd job) completely swept me up but I am proud to present the 2nd to last chapter in this series. I shall be putting in all the effort I can muster to finish the final chapter within the coming weeks. 
> 
> I have a few ideas for some Sam x Reader One Shots so stay tuned for those!  
> If you have any ideas for One shots, I am taking requests! Comment below with your idea ^_^
> 
> Love you lots! <3 xx

She’d never been sick a day in her short life. Never so much as a fever. Yet here they were, sitting by their daughter’s hospital bedside, watching as she fought for her life. This was beginning to be a regular occurrence. Of course, that was always a trend when you were a Winchester. And it didn’t matter if you were a blood relative or not. Death just seemed to follow you around.

Rita’s spell did exactly what she wanted it to do. It cured her parents, but at a terrible price. She was thrown back against the wall, cracking her skull. She had a bleed in her brain that had to be corrected surgically. So now she was the one on life support, with Sam, Dean, and Cerys at her side, unsure of what to do next.

“She communicated with the Divine?” Cerys asked Dean, doubtful.

“That’s what she told me she was doing. She looked barely alive when I found her on the sidewalk around the corner. Pale, unresponsive, the works.”

“Yeah that sounds about right.” Cerys mused. “It takes a certain amount of life force to talk with the Gods. They see it as a sacrifice only fit for the worthy.”

“Believe me, we know.” Sam said. “Hell it takes less energy to kill a God.” Him and Dean looked at each other.

“Dean, you look like you went back to Hell again. Have you slept at all since we went under?” Cerys said, giving him a worried look.

Dean rubbed his eyes and scratched at the stubble on his chin, then yawned. “Not really. Someone had to look out for the little princess. Make sure she didn’t do anything reckless. Lotta good that did.”

“Dean, this wasn’t your fault.” Sam started, standing up to approach his brother. “I think I also speak for Cerys when I say we’re eternally grateful for looking out for her.” Cerys nodded with a small smile. “We’re the last one that would blame you for this.”

“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up.” Cerys stood up and came behind Sam, wrapping his arms around him. Sam didn’t know how to react, so he just held his position. Cerys smile almost faltered, but she didn’t let her emotions come through. But she did let go of him, realizing he wasn’t going to return the sentiment. “Remember, she’s a Winchester. She was bound to do something reckless in the name of protecting another.” Sam smiled at that notion. “But seriously. Go back to the bunker and get some sleep. Now that Sam and I are back in the game, we can take it from here.”

And with that, Dean grabbed his coat and bid his brother and Cerys farewell.

********

Sam and Cerys had pulled up chairs next to Rita’s bed. It was apparently to Cerys that things were still awkward between them, so she was sitting on the opposite side of Sam. They were both holding each of Rita’s tiny hands. The silence between them were starting to bug her, so she broke it.

“So…What do you remember exactly?”

“Nothing really.” Sam said, not looking at her. “I blacked out after touching your head and chest. Apparently Cas was saying an incantation to make the spell work and I have no memory of even that, let alone what happened in your subconscious.” Cerys sighed. _Would’ve been nice to know what he saw._ “What about you? Do you remember anything?”

“No.” Cerys said disappointedly. “The last thing I remember is being sick in the bunker. I thought I was better, but clearly since I ended up here, that wasn’t the case. How long was I out?”

“About a week.”

“Damn.” Cerys said, slightly shocked. “Guess time flies.” She chuckled. But Sam didn’t look up. He kept his focus on their daughter. She continued. “So, are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?”

“And what elephant would that be?

“Us.”

Sam finally looked up at her. She couldn’t quite gauge what he was thinking. Judging by his facial expressions, it could’ve been anything from resentment for bringing the subject up again, to gratefulness that she was alive and well again.

“I still love you, you know.” Cerys said. “I never stopped.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” She felt the prickly sensation of frustration creeping up in her. She let the dam break. “Look, if we’re going to be the best parents we can for Rita then we need to be upfront and honest with each other about where we stand. I know me being out for a week hadn’t helped, but now that I’m here we need to talk about this.”

“Does it have to be now, while our daughter is on life support?”

“Honestly, yes. If we don’t do it now, while it’s fresh on our minds, then when will we? We can’t keep avoiding the subject. Had I never gotten sick we would already know.” Cerys gave Sam a serious look. He let his own falter.

Sam sighed. “I’ve had to keep my heart guarded when I’m around you. Because, in all honesty, I still love you too. But my greatest fear is that you’ll leave again. I…I can’t go through that again. Everyone I’ve ever loved has died. I hate a shitty track record of keeping significant others alive and you know it. You’re the only one that’s survived. It would kill me if I lost you for good.”

“Is that why you rescued me? Because you still loved me?”

Sam thought about his answer before speaking. “That, and Rita asked me to. The spell called for the victim’s one true soulmate to rescue them. So…well, you can put two and two together.”

Cerys got up from her chair and walked over to Sam. He let go of Rita’s hand and allowed Cerys to sit in his lap. All of the tension he was feeling just melted away. It felt just like old times. She wrapped his arms around his waist, curled up into a ball and rested her head on his chest. As she started to hear his heartbeat, she felt his strong arms wrap around her. He kissed her head, breathed in her scent. When she looked up at him, his hazel eyes with that unique spark of life in them, that’s when they lost it. His lips crashed into hers hardcore. Their make-out session was better than they’d ever had before, probably because it felt new. Like a fresh start. It felt _so_ good. When they started trying to peel of each others' clothes, Cerys accidentally kicked Rita’s bed. They looked up, noticed that it didn’t disturb her, then looked at each other, smiling.

“Sam, there’s no way I’d leave now. I had my reasons before and you know them so there’s no point in rehashing the past. But now that Rita is involved with you, I can’t in good conscious take that away from her. Or you. You’re her father. If I know our child, then I can guess that she finally feels her life is complete. Rita needs her dad. And…and I need you.”

“And I’ve missed you so much you have no idea, Cerys.” Sam brought his large hands to her face and pulled her in closer to kiss her. Cerys kissed him back. They continued to sit together, wrapped in each other’s embrace, studying their unconscious daughter’s form. Their moment of bliss died away when reality hit them again. Their daughter had risked her life to save theirs. Cerys could feel her tears coming on. She tried her best to hide them from Sam, but she sniffed out of reflex. Sam looked down at her and noticed two large teardrops sliding down her beautiful pale face. He gently wiped them away with his thumb. She looked up at him and met his eyes, trying her hardest not to let the natural force of a Soulgaze initiate. But it didn’t work. And their eyes locked in place.

That’s when the unexpected happened. At least, it was unexpected for Cerys. Normally with a Soulgaze, the gazers stay in one place, unmoving, sometimes unbreathing, for long periods of time, like they’re in a trance. But the force of the gaze created a cosmic explosion, blasting both Sam and Cerys apart from each other. Cerys’ mind was swimming with images. Things she’s never seen before. She couldn’t tell where they were coming from, or from whom. But there was something rather familiar at it. Like she’d done this before. Maybe in a past life? Then she lost all pretense of reality and her mind slipped into nothingness. She would never get those answers in that regard.

Sam landed hard against the wall, head spinning but otherwise unhurt. He got up and saw Cerys on the ground, sprawled out and not moving. He thought the worst rushing over to her, picking her up and cradling her in his strong muscular arms. He gasped when he saw her eyes. They almost looked like Lilith’s eyes, all white and demonic. But there was nothing demonic about Cerys’ eyes. They were white all over, with a slight silvery shimmer among them. They were…beautiful. Then he realized she wasn’t breathing on her own. He tried to shake her out of her trance.

“CERYS! Baby wake up. Wake up! God you can’t do this to me now!” Now it was Sam on the verge of tears. He felt her pulse, praising whoever was upstairs when he found it. But it was racing fast and hard, which worried him. He continued trying to wake her up. “Cerys, our little girl needs you. Needs her mother. She needs you. I NEED YOU!” He shouted. And that seemed to snap her out of whatever was going on. Her eyes went back to normal, but her trance didn’t cease. She got up on her own without Sam’s help. She didn’t seem to see Sam at all.

“Cerys?”

“Samuel Henry Winchester. Do not fear. I am here to help.” Cerys’ voice was not hers. It sounded like hers, but there was different tone about it. Sam couldn’t place who’s it really was. Was she possessed? _That’s not possible. She has an anti-possession tattoo over her heart,_ Sam thought.

“Who are you? And what have you done with Cerys?”  Sam contemplated reaching for his knife, or his gun. But remembered that he was unarmed. He’d left all his weapons in the Impala when Cerys was hospitalized. He had no way to defend himself if a possessed Cerys decided to attack. _I’ll just have to take my chances._ He swallowed hard, his heart pounding.

“I am the Divine.” Cerys said. “And I’m here to spare my child from Fate.”

“Fate? What do you mean?” Sam changed the way he was standing. He got into a fighting stance in the event he needed to without bringing his fists up. He needed to be prepared for anything. Even if it hurts Cerys. The thought made him cringe on the inside.

“Annaryetta Millie Winchester was slated to die today.”

Sam’s eyes went wide. He breath caught in his throat, his heart beating faster. But Cerys, or Divine, apparently, continued.

“However I could not allow it. She has been a good servant of mine. Honoring what the Divine holds dearest. So, I approached Fate and demanded she spare Annaryetta.”

Sam couldn’t believe he was about to ask this. “But why?” Cerys eyed him curiously, and for a second Sam thought she was going to reconsider. Damage control time. “N-not that I-I’m not grateful, b-believe me I-I am!” he chuckled nervously. “It’s just that, spiritual beings aren’t normally the biggest fans of me and my family. We t-t-tend to get in the way of their p-plans.”

“If you must know, Samuel.” Cerys started. She approached Rita’s hospital bed, looking down at her. “Fate owed me.”

“Owed you?”

“My my, you Winchesters are quite nosey creatures.” Cerys huffed in annoyance. “Yes. I saved her life once. When she asked how to repay me, I told her I would come to her when the time was right. You Winchesters _do_ get in the way of a lot of divine plans. But I will never deny that it isn’t for good reason. You do a lot of good for the world. In ways that…even Divine creatures such as myself can’t manage. It’s really something to be admired.”

Sam just stood there stunned. A God or any deity has never told him that they do good. They tend to run into the dickbags of the celestial world. Sam decided to take it to heart and let him feel good about the sentiment.

“Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you, Samuel.”

“You’re about to,” he smiled, looking at Rita. It was at that moment that her life support machines started going crazy. The monitors wailing, the ventilator started clicking weirdly, all signs that Sam dreaded. Rita was starting her descent into the afterlife.

Without another word, Cerys touched Rita’s forehead and her little body shimmered from within. Within about 30 seconds, all of the machines stopped making noises, and the light emanating from Rita’s body blinded everything in the room. The next moment, Sam found himself on the floor. When he stood up, Cerys was coming to on the ground, and Rita was choking on her endotracheal tube.

“SOMEBODY HELP!!!” Sam cried out.

*********

The doctor was standing in the room next to Rita’s bed. Dean came back as soon as he received the frantic text message from Cerys. Sam and Cerys were sitting next to Rita on her bed, Dean standing close by.

“From a medical standpoint, it’s a miracle.” The doctor explained. “Your daughter was on the verge of death. And now all of the injuries have managed to…well… disappear. It’s not the professional term I would prefer to use but I cannot explain it any other way.” The doc looked up from the chart she was holding in her hands and right at Sam and Cerys. She closed it up and smiled. “There’s no reason for her to stay here. I’ll start gathering the paperwork to get her discharged.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Cerys said “For everything.”

As the doc was walking out of the room, she turned around and smiled warmly at Cerys. “It’s my pleasure, although I don’t think I should be taking credit for this. Medicine can only go so far. Some sort of divine intervention is the reason your daughter is alive.” And with that she walked out, closing the door behind her.

“What the hell guys?” Dean said, “Which one of you magic cured my niece?”

“I’m not sure. I accidentally Soulgazed with Sam, and then I wake up to Rita choking on her tubes.”

“It was the Divine, wasn’t it?” Rita said.

Everyone looked at her. Before anyone could say anything, Sam spoke up.

“It was.”

“Sam that’s not possible,” Cerys doubted.

“Cerys, I saw everything. It….it possessed you.”

“…what?” was all Cerys could breathe out. “I mean, I’ve heard of the Divine needed a vessel, but only in an emergency. I don’t understand.”

“Nor do I, dear. But when that gaze blasted us back, your whole eyes were white. Almost silver. And your voice had changed. She said that Rita was….was going to die.” Sam looked at Rita and saw the fear in her eyes. “But she said that she was here to stop it. And she did! Rita, darling, you’re gonna be just fine. How else are you awake?”

“I guess like the doctor said Daddy,” Rita said. “Divine intervention.”

“It’s hard to believe, after everything we’ve done to Gods,” Dean began, scratching at the stubble on his face, “one of them was good to us. I don’t anticipate it being a regular occurrence.”

“Same.” Cerys agreed. “So…what now?”

“Let’s go home.” Sam said with a smile. He came over to Cerys and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. They both looked at Rita and smiled. “Dunno about you two, but I’ve had enough of hospitals for one lifetime.”

“Amen.” Rita said.

About an hour later Dean, Cerys and Rita were playing cards while Sam stepped out to make a phone call. Cerys asked where he was going, and all Sam would say was “don’t worry about it hon.” He winked at her so she knew he wasn’t trying to be cold, then he made his way out to the lobby. Cerys thought it was weird but she let it go.  10 minutes later the doctor came back in with a stack of papers. She got Cerys to sign all of them, officially discharging Rita from the hospital. When they were about to walk out, Cerys noticed that Sam still hadn’t returned. And it concerned her.

“Where is that pain in the ass little brother of yours, Dean?” Cerys said impatiently.

“Beats me. As much as I want to, can’t really keep a leash on the kid anymore.” Dean mused.

“I’m not leaving this room unless I’m walking out with you both, holding hands.” Rita griped.

It was another 15 minutes before Sam reappeared.

“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for you. Rita wants to hold our hands while walking out.”

“It’s not important. Not right now anyway.” Sam said, slightly out of breath.

 _Has he been running?_ Cerys thought. “Okay what’s going on with you?”

“Yeah Daddy you disappeared for a long time.”

“I’m hungry” Dean said. Everyone threw him a bitchface.

“Me too. Let’s go.” Sam derailed all their questioning by taking Cerys’ hand in his right and Rita’s in his left and led them to the door. Dean shrugged and followed them out. They all walked back to one of the side parking garages and towards the Impala. Everyone but Sam gave Baby some much needed loving, then Sam and Dean took their respective spots in the front, but not before Sam opened Cerys’ door for her, Dean doing the same for Rita. Once everyone was settled in, Dean brought the engine to life and they left the hospital in Baby’s rearview mirror.

***********

  **THREE DAYS LATER**

Sam, Dean, Cerys and Rita were all sitting at the large map table in middle of the bunker eating breakfast. Cerys insisted on cooking for everyone. She made everything she knew how to. Eggs, bacon, toast, Belgian waffles, buttermilk pancakes, with plenty of hashbrowns, freshly sliced fruit, and coffee to go around. Rita had a glass of honeydew grape juice with her breakfast. Sam prepared it himself. He was so proud to see his daughter have such a healthy appetite for, well, healthy eating.

“So any cases pop up in the last few days?” Cerys said between a bite of hashbrowns

“Actually I haven’t been looking” Sam said.

“Really?” Dean said surprised with a mouthful of pancakes. He swallowed and gulped down coffee “I figured after all that’s happened you’d be itching to go back on a hunt.”

“Well, I’ve had other things on my mind.” Sam said with a smile, eyeing Cerys. She didn’t seem to notice the look in his eye. But Rita did.

“Uh oh, Daddy what are you planning.”

“Well, babygirl…” he let his sentence trail off until he knew he had Cerys’ full attention, “the rest of my life.”

That’s when he stood up and walked over to Cerys. He took her by the hand, making her stand up too. He positioned themselves so that Rita and Dean had the perfect view of what he was about to do. He hugged and kissed her deeply.

“What’s all this about?” Cerys asked.

Sam took a deep breath, then said “I’m about to make sure I never ever lose you again.” He slowly got down on one knee and pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket. Cerys gasped, throwing both hands over her mouth. Rita squealed. Dean just sat there with a smug look on his face. “I’ve thought about what you’ve said. And I believe you. You had your reasons for leaving. And I respect them. But now…now I want us to be a real family. All together for good. So, Cerys, would you please make my world complete and become my wife?”

 

It was a few heartbeats before anyone spoke. Then Cerys grinned ear to ear.

 

“Like you even need to ask.”


	10. The First Of Its Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding that Sam never thought he'd ever see is finally here. What else is in store for the Winchester family's future?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started this series back in August, writing fan fiction for the first time in over a decade. This series was based on a dream I’d had while working as a EMT in Houston (I literally was napping on the ambulance stretcher while in between calls. Night shift FTW) about Sam finding out he had a child from an old hunting partner. And now, almost eight months later, it’s finally coming to a close. I NEVER thought I would ever complete my very first series, nor did I anticipate how well received it would be. If it wasn’t for AOx3 and Tumblr’s fantastic Supernatural family, I would’ve never started writing to begin with. This was my start. Y’all inspire me to continue writing. Thank you all for your love and support!

Sam and Cerys never really planned for anything, even though they really should have. Living the life, any day could be your last. There was always something gunning for you. The two of them just always went with the flow, dealt with problems and things as they came along. Which was a far cry from how Sam’s life was before Jessica died. But after hunting with Cerys and Dean as a team, he had become laid back, a bit more chill. Only because that was how Cerys did her business. She used to be a witch-for-hire. A professional hunter, so to speak. The magic usage might have something to do with it, but Sam managed to incorporate it into his own style of hunting. And it worked. Just like they did.

But now, with their wedding looming over them, gone were the days of taking it one step at a time.

They decided to wed in true hunter fashion. In the middle of the woods, on a dreary day, in front of an old abandoned previously-haunted house (currently not haunted thanks to the soon-to-be-married couple) with every single hunter they know and love that were still alive. Which sadly made the list rather short. But that was fine for them. Sam was never one for big parties, and Cerys never saw the need to spend a whole lot of time and money on an event for one night. She believed that money could be better spent on things for the job, and now, on Rita. So with that being said, the guest list comprised of Dean, Cas, Charlie, Rita, Jody, Alex, and Claire.  To their surprise, Crowley and Rowena decided they wanted to be in attendance, but not before the pair and Dean made them sign a contract that they wouldn’t interfere with the wedding in their usual King and Mother of Hell fashion. They insisted that they were only there for the wedding itself, with Rowena rambling on about how it’d had been “at least 400 years since she attended a proper wedding, and one of a witch to boot” in her now famous Scottish lilt. But the Winchester basically told her where to stick her desires and she reluctantly signed next to her son’s name.

Even for planning a wedding this small and holding a small reception back at the bunker, it still took about 8 months to get things straight. Monsters didn’t take a vacation because hunters were getting married.

Sam didn’t even need to ask Dean to be his best man. It was kind of a given. Castiel offered to officiate the marriage, and Cerys were overjoyed. Who better to wed a couple than an actual badass Angel of the Lord? Rita refused to be the flower girl, since overly girly things weren’t her style, so her parents designated her the ring bearer. Ironically she still wanted to wear a dress. Cerys called Charlie and asked if she would be her maid of honor. Charlie practically screamed and cried “YES!” over the phone, and Cerys wondered if she’d need to get hearing aids.

Cerys and Charlie, along with Jody and her girls took her dress shopping. Jody demanded to pay for the dress but Sam told Cerys that “money was no object for my bride to look her best on our big day!” so she worried about Jody breaking her Sherriff type budget. Jody waved her off like she was speaking nonsense. “My money isn’t of your concern, missy. Besides, you’ve become like a daughter to me and what mother allowed her fiancé to buy her wedding dress for her, you nuts?” that got everyone laughing at the shop, including the blushing bride. So Cerys dropped the subject.

It was one of the first ones she spotted. An older vintage styled dress that wasn’t too frilly and long, yet simple and elegant. It just screamed Cerys Fiona Blake. But it wasn’t til she tried it on that brought way more oohs and ahhs from everyone at the shop than she anticipated. But it wasn’t like she wasn’t agreeing with them. She too was in awe how gorgeous the gown was. And how it fit all her curves in the right places. There was no way she could leave the shop without that dress. So Jody paid for it. But not before she got into it with Charlie about paying for her maid of honor dress. Charlie ended up winning that battle, insisting she had her eye on a vintage item herself and had more than enough money to pay for it. Then it came time to pick out Rita’s dress. Continuing with the vintage dress theme that had apparently been established, they found one very close to what Cerys would be wearing. When everything was all said and done and paid for, they left with their purchases and made their way back to the bunker. Jody called the boys and made sure none of them were around to see the gowns so she ordered them to go hide in their rooms til the items were stashed away.

“You know Jody, I’m not one for all the wedding superstitions. I mean, you kinda can’t believe in them if you’re a hunter.” Cerys said as she was putting her dress away in part of her closet that locked with a key. She wanted to make sure Sam wouldn’t go snooping around.

“Well hunter or not, I’m the one who paid for the dress and I don’t want Sam seeing it. It’ll spoil the surprise!” Jody said with a wink, trying not to sound too harsh on Cerys. She understood and didn’t make a fuss about it anymore.

The night before the big day, Cerys went over to sleep at a nicer end motel not far from home, along with Charlie, Jody, Alex and Claire, and Sam stayed at the bunker. Jody managed to score a room big enough to accommodate all of them. Cerys also managed to sneak the dress and bridal accessories with her without Sam noticing. All the girls should’ve been hunkering down for an early night as the wedding was suppose to start at 9am the following morning, but it had been so long since Cerys had seen any of them so she wanted to catch up. Being hospitalized within her own head certainly didn’t help that.

Meanwhile at the bunker, Dean threw an improv but small bachelor party for Sam. Sam, Dean, Cas, and Crowley were the only ones in attendance. Sam insisted on having Crowley join them. Despite being the King of Hell, he did help them out on a lot of things. This didn’t change anything in the contract that he and his mother signed though.

“Damnit I can’t believe my little brother’s finally getting married!” Dean said, taking a long drink of his beer. “Honestly I didn’t think this day would ever come.”

“Yeah well, I had to pull my head out of my ass at some point,” Sam chuckled, finishing off his own beer.

“Yes, lovely conversation boys.” Crowley said, bored. “Moose, I’d actually like to have a word with you.”

“About?”

“It has come to my attention that while this wedding of yours has been fully planned to the T, one detail was never discussed.”

“What detail?”

“Cerys has a maid of honor, you have a best man, and little Rita will be presenting the rings. But who is going to walk your lovely bride to be down the aisle?”

That was a good question indeed, and one that was never brought up. Sam assumed Cerys would have someone in mind, but she never mentioned it. He couldn’t fathom the idea of her walking by herself, and he knew she wouldn’t want that. If Bobby were still alive, he knew she would want him to do it without a doubt. He had become something of a father to all three of them before his untimely death.

“Do you have any suggestions?” Dean said.

“I’d like to suggest myself.” Crowley said. The room got very quiet. “well don’t all cheer at once. You might break something.”

Sam was the first to speak. “Well I’m not the one you should be asking. Cerys will need to approve of that.”

Crowley disappeared before anyone could say anything more. Since Cerys and the girls might be having a kind of bachelorette party and didn’t want to just appear in front of them, he decided to just appear in front of the motel room the girls were at. He knocked quietly, and the door was answered by Jody.

“Got tired of the boys? I don’t blame you. They can be boring.” Jody mused through the crack in the door.

“Jody who is it?” Cerys called from one of the beds. All the girls were in their more modest pajamas.

Jody didn’t answer her. Instead she just opened the door more widely so Cerys could see Crowley standing, waiting to be invited in.

“Crowley!” Cerys exclaimed. She was also a little tipsy. “Come join us!”

“Actually dove I wanted to speak with you on a subject that apparently wasn’t broached during the main wedding plan discussions. May I?” Crowley held out his hand as his way of asking if he could come in. Cerys jumped up and threw her arms around him. At first he tensed up, but he could feel the slight drunkenness coming off her so he politely returned the hug.

“You want some wine?” Charlie chimed in. She also was on the edge of the legal limit.

“No thank you, dear. Cerys darling.” He turned back to face her. “I mentioned this to Sam but he insisted I talk to you directly. And I suppose I should get this out quick before you drink yourself out of the range of comprehensible English.”

“W-what is it?” Cerys hiccuped.

“Do you have someone to walk you down the aisle tomorrow morning?”

“Oh _crap!_ ” Jody gasped. “That was never even brought up! How could we forget about that?”

“That would be rather important, wouldn’t it?” Cerys said.

“Unless you prefer to walk down it alone.” Crowley said.

“No, no, I’d really rather not.”

“Moose said the same thing.”

“He knows me too well.” Cerys said, beaming.

“Which brings me to what I wanted to ask you. I’d like to offer to fill that minute yet vital role. But only if you’ll allow me to.” Crowley actually managed to smile a genuine smile. Cerys felt hot tears coming to bloom in the corners of her eyes. She really felt so lucky to have such wonderful friends, even if one of them was the King of Hell and his mother.

“I’d be honored, King of Hell.” Cerys said, curtseying clumsily. That made the girls giggle. Crowley continued to smile.

“Careful who you swear your allegiance to, love.” He said in jest. He bowed down before Cerys to show it wasn’t a threat. “Well now that that’s settled, I must be off.”

“Awww stay with uuuuss!!!” Cerys whined, taking Crowley by the arm and dragging him slowly further into the room. Crowley gently shook her loose.

“Sorry but I’ve had my fill of parties for the night. I’ll have a cyan rose pinned to my suit bright and early tomorrow morning. See you then. Ladies.” He nodded towards the rest of the crew.

And with that, he was gone.

********

The following morning came before anyone knew it. The girls were up before the crack of dawn at the sound of a knock at their door. It was Rita and Dean. Rita decided to get an early night’s sleep in her own bed at the bunker and Dean agreed to bring her over so she could get ready with the girls. Alex, Claire, and Jody were dressed in after five attire in no time at all, and they were helping Cerys and Charlie get ready. Once Charlie was ready, she helped Rita into her dress and did her hair. Cerys showered, did her makeup while Jody did her hair. Cerys made a comment that she should retire from being the Sioux Falls Sherriff and become a hairdresser instead. Jody really was talented! But Jody just laughed it off and took it as a compliment.

It was finally time to step into her dress. When she finally got it zipped up and she turned around to see herself in the motel room’s full length mirror, she about collapsed. Even she couldn’t deny how fucking beautiful she looked.

“Mama you look so beautiful!” Rita came up from behind her. Cerys bent over to pick her up.

“So do you, _ai mela_.” Cerys said, trying not to cry as it would ruin her make up.

“Well, as lovely as we all are, we need to get going. But not before pictures!” Jody pulled out her phone and started ordering girls around so she could snap some shots. She took a few of Charlie posing in her attire with her maid of honor bouquet. She took more than a few of Alex and Claire, together and separately. And she took about a dozen or so of Rita and Cerys. Some of them were by themselves, and the others were of the two of them together. Cerys decided to try out some wedding model poses she’d seen in a magazine once. After pictures were done, Jody showed the girls her work. Cerys picked out her favorite and asked her to send them so she could frame them.

There wasn’t enough room for all of them to travel together in one vehicle, but with Cerys’ bridal attire, she wasn’t comfortable with driving. So Charlie offered. Jody drove herself, Alex and Claire to the middle-of-nowhere venue, and Charlie drove Cerys and Rita, following behind the Mills girls.

********

The boys were already at the abandoned house by the time they saw the girls’ cars pull up. It was covered in such a way that they could see them approaching, but not who was getting out. Which was good. Sam didn’t want to see Cerys in all her goddess-like glory until she was walking down the aisle, arm in arm with Crowley, to marry him.

He couldn’t believe this day had come. After Jessica’s death, while he hadn’t given up on living “normally,” he had abandoned the idea of getting married, settling down. And that idea was further pushed into the grave by the deaths of the women he’d fallen in love with after Jess’ death. But then Cerys came along. He liked her almost instantly because it took a death glare, a 5 worded sentence, and no magic to shut Dean up. Any woman who can stand up to his big brother was worth keeping around in his book. But what made him completely fall for her was the fact that she had a bigger heart than he did. Witches weren’t usually known for the decency towards humanity. They’re all about “how much shit can we fuck up today?” or “whom shall I next curse for absolutely no reasons”

Cerys wasn’t like that. She was a live and let live kinda gal. She did her part to keep humanity from falling apart but she used magic to accomplish it. It took Dean seeing that a few times in a row for him to believe it. They didn’t get along at first, but Cerys opened his eyes a bit. Showing Dean that the world of the supernatural wasn’t all black and white like their father had taught them. And Sam was glad, because his older brother really needed it.

To say Sam was excited was an understatement. His palms were soaked with sweat, he was a little bouncier than normal, and he could swear he could hear his own pounding heartbeat in his ears. And he even stayed sober last night.

Sam was standing alone at the makeshift altar. They’d managed to find a podium inside the house and it was decorated with the wedding’s theme colors. Cerys and Sam were to stand on the first step of the three step porch of the house. Cas would be behind the podium officiating. Sam had a cyan carnation pinned to the left side of his chest, on the tux he rented in town. Dean was wearing something similar, but had a white kerchief folded in the chest pocket. There were a single row of chairs in front of them, with a space in the middle to represent the aisle.

Jody, Alex, Claire, and Rowena took their seats. Castiel made his way down the aisle and took his place behind the podium. His trench coat nowhere to be found, he bore an outfit that resembled a Catholic priest’s, a bible in his hand. Then shortly afterwards, Dean was walking Charlie down the aisle. They stopped shortly before Sam, Dean kissed Charlie on the head gently, and Dean took his place right behind Sam, Charlie opposite the brothers. Then Rita came down the aisle, wearing her dress and holding a satin pillow with two rings on it. When she got to the front, she didn’t know where to go, so Cas pointed to Charlie, and Rita went to go stand behind her. Suddenly, music started playing out of nowhere. Sam guessed it was magic but didn’t question it. Everybody in the audience stood up. Then Crowley slowly immerged with Cerys, arm in arm. Sam was surprised he was still upright at the sight of her. She was….breathtaking. Every word in all the world’s languages that meant beautiful were not enough to describe his bride.

Dean lean in to whisper to Sam. “Is your heart still beating, man?”

“I hope so” Sam managed to breathe out. It would be rather inconvenient for him to die now.

Cerys and Crowley stopped before the porch. Sam slowly approached Cerys, the tears visible in his eyes. Crowley looked at Cerys, winks at her, then gives Cerys’ arm to Sam. He takes one last look at her and she smiles at him. He smiles back, even with the threat of tears spilling from his eyes. They both face Cas.

“Dearly beloved friends, hunters and non hunters alike, we are gathered here today before God to witness the eternal matrimony of these two people. Over the years, I’ve seen Sam and Cerys grow to be wonderful people that this world is blessed to have. Heroes. Hunters. Family. And now, I would like to share one of my favorite verses fitting for such an occasion.” Castiel opened up the bible and removed the bookmark, flipping it on the outside of the book.

“I will read from **Ecclesiastes, chapter 4, versus 9 through 12** **. ‘** _Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’”_

Sam and Cerys stood there and took in what was spoken. Cerys realized that, it really was fitting. Two were better than one. Glancing at Rita out of the corner of her eye, she realized that that was their reward for all the ‘toil’ they’d gone through. Every time Cerys fell, Sam was there to pick her up. The bed was always warmer when he was around. With the three of them together forever, nothing could stand in their way. Cerys guessed that he was thinking the same thing, as he just kept looking between her and Rita. They smiled at each other again before returning their focus to Cas. 

Sam and Cerys exchanged their vows, Rita allowed them to put each other’s rings on, and Castiel announced them as husband and wife, Sam kissing his new bride for the first time.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I please be the first to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Henry Winchester!”

Everyone clapped and cheered as Sam and Cerys made their way back down the aisle. At the end, Sam picked Cerys up bridal style and carried her to Baby. Dean allowed for the Impala to be their getaway car, so long as they didn’t decorate her with the usual ‘marriage crap.’ Sam didn’t seem to care one way or another. Cerys opened the door with magic and Sam slipped her inside, then he got into the driver seat. He honked the horn and drove off towards the bunker, where the small reception would take place.

********

In the months to follow, Sam and Cerys went on a honeymoon to Ireland. But they weren’t alone. There was no way they would leave Rita at home. Them getting back together and marriage wouldn’t even have happened if it wasn’t for her. So they made it a family affair. They saw all that the Emerald Isles had to offer in the two weeks they allotted. Once then they were stateside, there was work to do. Sam decided to follow in his wife’s footsteps. With his dad’s journal in hand, he taught Rita everything he knew about hunting. Every creature, every monster, and all the mundane ways on how to kill them. It turns out Rita was a very quick learner. Cerys also continued their magic lessons. By the time Rita was 16, word around the hunting community was that she was unique, to say the least. She was a witch with masterful training, and she was a formidable hunter, being trained by one of the best in the business.

Cerys wasn’t sure about her hunting on her own at such a young age, but Sam was confident in her abilities.

“She’s got the best teachers any witch or hunter could have. You and me.” Sam said, kissing Cerys on the forehead. Cerys looked on with a worried expression as Rita was packing her bags to go on another hunt. She’d gotten so tall, taking after her father.

“I’m just glad her brothers haven’t shown any interest in hunting…” Cerys sighed.

“Get out of my room!” Rita yelled. “Mom, Leo and Bobby won’t leave me alone!”

“Boys!” Sam called out. His 9 year old identical twin sons came running out, stopping just short of their father. “What did I tell you about messing with your sister? She’s getting ready to leave. Let her be.”

“Sorry, dad.” Both boys said simultaneously. Another Winchester trait his kids inherited from him and Dean.

“Your Uncle Dean will be here shortly to take you guys out.” Cerys said from behind. Just then, Rita came from her room, duffle bag swung behind her shoulder. “Your father and I have some things to handle.”

Sam approached Rita, kissing her on the head. “you be careful, sweetie. Call us when you get to the motel.” Rita smiled back at him. Sam continued. “Checklist. You got your gun?”

Rita pulled Sam’s old 45 from the waistband of her pants. “Locked and loaded.”

“Knife?”

Rita pulled Ruby’s demon killing knife from inside her leather jacket and showed Sam. “Never leave home without it.”

“Fire spell at the ready?” Cerys came up to Sam’s side.

Rita opened her right hand and flames starting to dance atop her palm. “Always.”

Her little brothers marveled at her spell. “I wanna learn to do that mama!” Bobby exclaimed.

“One day, _ai mela_. One day.” Cerys said.

Rita kissed her mother, and ruffled her little brothers’ hair, then out the front door she went. Sam and Cerys watched her leave, Leo and Bobby in front of them.

Sam never thought he’d ever come to the point in life. Married to a wonderful woman, a hunter and a witch to boot. Three awesome kickass children. One of them being the first of its kind. A witch and a hunter all rolled into one.

Annaryetta ended up being an unexpected prodigy. An heiress to the Winchester hunting way of life.


	11. Epilogue: The Shrieker Contract

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Cerys decide to do one last hunt for old times' sake, and it's for a monster that Cerys is not a stranger to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for a Tumblr challenge entitled Rejects of Supernatural, where you choose a monster that doesn't appear in the show as canon. I chose to do the cockatrice as I am a HUGE Witcher fan (given where Cerys' name originated I figured that would be obvious) and I found it to be a healthy challenge that could be seen as potential canon for Supernatural. I hope I've given my very first series the epilogue it deserves.

_**[Graphic by me. Pictures for graphic found on Bing Image. Credit to original artists. OneShoeShort is my Tumblr blog name.]** _

 

Cerys had pretty much gotten used to a life out of the hunting business. Kids, school, PTA meetings, bake sales for karate matches, the whole domestic works. Other than worrying about Rita while she followed in her father and uncle Dean’s footsteps, things were pretty nominal.

Except that one day where she made this mistake of glancing at the local paper at the grocery store. She could’ve ignored it, kept going about her business knowing she had frozens in her cart, but it was blasted all over the front page. Her sorceress and hunter’s instincts were gnawing at her. Against everything she thought was right, she grabbed the paper and paid for everything, heading out to her truck to go home. Sam wasn’t going to be happy about this.

* * *

“You what?!” Sam exclaimed. Cerys sighed, knowing this was coming.

“I found a case.”

“You’re joking, right?” Dean spoke from the entryway of their kitchen. He occasionally visited when he wasn’t watching their boys. “That sounds like something _I_ need to handle, not you and certainly not Sam.”

“If it was any other case, sure, I’d agree. But I read through it and did some digging up, and this is a creature that I feel only I have experience with.”

That got the Winchester brothers’ undivided attention now. Dean came into the kitchen and sat down next to Sam, across from his wife. “Go on,” Dean urged gently.

“According to local reports in a town about 2 hours from here, an unusual creature was taking livestock and leaving behind their carcasses for the farm owner, Michael Sandhill, to find. Owner’s neighbor, Carl Desmond, told the paper the owner had had enough, so he went to try and figure out what the deal was. Sandhill was found a few days later as a torn up splattered mess, as were his three farmhands. Took the coroners two days to pick up all the pieces, barely any teeth left to identify them. Only reason the neighbor survived was because this creature wasn’t anywhere near the bodies at the time.”

“How does neighbor guy even know what it was?” Sam inquired.

“Well, the neighbor apparently was curious as to what could cause such destruction, so he played spy until the creature showed up. Described it as a ‘giant green dragon with a rooster’s head’.”

“Oh yeah, not our kind of case at all,” Dean mused. Sam nudged him. Cerys just chuckled.

“Oh, it gets better,” Cerys went on. “Desmond said that he saw it bringing more and more livestock to the area where his neighbors were found. Like the creature had made it its lair. Which was nothing more than an abandoned barn that had partially caved in a few years back.”

“So you said you’re experienced with this. Hit me with the good shit,” Dean said, taking a drink from his cup.

“My instincts are telling me this is a cockatrice.”

“That sounds vaguely dirty,” Dean smirked, earning him another smack from Sam.

“It’s a type of dragon, more for its flying abilities rather than its size. I honestly thought they were extinct. Haven’t even heard of a sighting after the 16th century. They were mostly native to Europe, so why one’s here in the American Midwest is a mystery to me. The name itself derives from its rooster like appearance and the feathers on its wings. Sometimes called a “shrieker” given its cry. Believe me when I say, it’s not a pretty sight.”

“Neither is anything else we’ve ever hunted, what else is new,” Sam mused.

“True,” Cerys continued, turning her attention to her husband. “I know we’re out of the life, and that taking on this case probably isn’t a good idea, but think about this. Do you honestly know of a hunter who’s even heard of a cockatrice, let alone encountered one? These things normally doesn’t go after humans unless one invades its personal space. Then, it’ll target humans until it’s put down. I have invaluable knowledge of this and I know how to kill one. And I could really use the back up. What do you say? One last hunt for old times’ sake?”

Sam pondered it over. The last hunt they went on nearly killed Cerys. If she wasn’t a witch, she would’ve stayed dead as the demons they were fighting snapped her neck. That was before finding out about Annaryetta, their oldest daughter, who ended up being a witch-hunter hybrid, and the whole mess involving reuniting their family.

Sam took a deep breath. “Alright. One last hunt. But that’s it. I don’t care what else might come up, and I don’t care if we’re the only ones experienced enough to handle it, we pass it on to another hunter and act as information liaison. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Dad,” Cerys quipped. Sam just rolled his eyes.

“Okay, maybe you guys didn’t hear me the first time,” Dean cut in. “Let me handle this hunt. Y’all stay home and keep living the apple pie dream.”

“And maybe you didn’t hear me,” Cerys retorted. “There’s no one else who can handle this and we’re the closest hunters around, retired or not. Besides, someone has to make sure Leo and Bobby get home from school alright. And they’ve got homework, Leo had a karate match in the evening-”

“Alright alright, you’ve made your point. You’re lucky I love you so much,” Dean stuck his tongue out at Cerys as he came over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her temple. Sometimes it was still hard to believe her and Dean had such a close relationship given how much he hated witches.

Sam got up from his chair and placed his dishes in the sink. Cerys waved her hand and the dishes started washing themselves. “I guess we need to go get packed up.”

“I guess so,” Cerys smiled.

* * *

Sam and Cerys spent the next two days investigating the scene of the crime, talking with locals, checking out the grisly remains at the county morgue. But it wasn’t until the body of Carl Desmond turned up that they decided enough time was wasted. Cerys brought along with her all her old grimoires on ancient supernatural beings and was reading up on them on the way towards the cockatrice’s lair. Sam was driving their crew cab pick up truck while Cerys was reading.

“So, you said you’ve encountered one of these things before, right?”

“That’s right,” Cerys answered, not taking her eyes off her book.

“But how that’s possible if they’re thought to be extinct?”

“I lied.”

Sam swerved and pulled the truck over. Cerys looked up in slight shock at Sam’s actions.

“What do you mean you lied?” Sam demanded incredulously.

Cerys didn’t cower at her husband’s harsh demeanor. “Remember that time I told you about accidentally opening up a time portal and getting stuck in the past?”

Sam had to think about it for a moment before responding, “yeah, you went back to the 13th century, and almost didn’t make it back.”

“I landed smack in the middle of a cockatrice’s lair. Almost didn’t make it out of there alive. A hunter from the time finished it off when I couldn’t physically or magically defend myself anymore. I wish I could remember his name.”

Sam took in this new information about his wife. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never asked. Not that I blame you. How can you ask about something you didn’t know existed?”

“Fair enough.”

“So,” Cerys went on. “After that I did research on the creatures of the time period while also finding a way to make it back to the 21st century. The cockatrice was one I paid extra close attention to.”

Still pulled over, Sam decided now was a great time to discuss how to kill this thing before walking right into its lair. “Do we have what’s necessary to axe it?”

“Yup,” Cerys confidently confirmed. “I even went as far as to make some Draconid oil. I grabbed the biggest pure silver blades we had and coated them with the oil. The ingredients in the oil are highly toxic to a cockatrice or any kind of dragon type creature.”

Sam started the truck up again and pulled back onto the highway. “Do the ingredients even exist anymore?”

“No,” Cerys replied. “but you know me. I’m always prepared.” She looked up at Sam and smiled.

They continued their trek towards the barn. Cerys was nervous as all hell to get this over with. Maybe the remnants of her past would finally die with this monster and she could permanently close that chapter of her life.

* * *

The two of them made your way into the barn, and they were immediately bombarded with the scent of rotting flesh. Sam made an involuntary noise and Cerys covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her coat. Cerys knew they were close.

“We may have to lure it out,” Cerys whispered. But before Sam could reply, they heard the cockatrice’s eardrum piercing shriek. They ran outside to see the monstrosity flapping its huge wings just above the ground, it rose higher and higher into the air, then prepared for its first attack. “Duck!”

Sam and Cerys dodged the cockatrice’s pounce with relative ease. “It’s easy to dodge them but watch out for its tail!” Cerys called out, drawing her blade at the same time Sam did. “You’ll bleed to death before you realize what hit you!”

“Noted!” Sam shouted back as the cockatrice landed and started trying to peck at them with its sharp beak. Sam swiped at it with the blade, missing its face but landing a good size blow to its wing. It shrieked in ferocious pain and withered to one side. This gave the couple the upper hand.

As the cockatrice prepared for a second attack, Sam came up again to try and finish the job, but all it earned him was a swift harsh swipe of the cockatrice’s tail. It hit Sam square in the chest and sent him flying, knocking him out.

“SAM!” Cerys cried out. She armed herself with her knife in the opposite hand, and she ignited a fireball in her other. “No one messes with my husband,” she said with renewed conviction. She aimed her hand at the creature and set it ablaze. When it was good and roasting, she teleported in a flash of movement on top of the creature, and landed on the back of its neck. She took her blade, greased in the toxic Draconid oil, and shoved it with all her might into the cockatrice’s upper spine, severing it from the inside. The creature struggled with the pain, and against the force, but it only further damaged what little nerve connectivity it had left. Then it slowly stopped struggling and withering around, and fell to its side. Dead.

Cerys inspected herself to make sure she wasn’t injured. A couple of burns, some scraps and cuts, but none worse for wear. Sam on the other hand was still out. She jumped off the now dead monster’s back and raced over towards the love of her life.

“Sam? Sammy? Baby, wake up,” Cerys bent down and cradle Sam’s huge frame into her smaller one, smacking his face with her hand. She really didn’t want to have to resort to magic to wake him up, but kept that plan in her back pocket. Fortunately it wasn’t needed. Sam started to grunt in pain and stir into consciousness. “Hey there,” Cerys said softly with a smile.

“Hey yourself,” Sam chuckled, then grimaced in pain. “You come here often?”

“Only with hunky hunters like yourself,” Cerys winked. She helped Sam up and gave him a once over, placing her hand firmly against his chest. His beautiful face was cut up, but nothing was broken. His vital signs were all stable too. She closed her eyes, muttered a spell in Elvan, and all his wounds disappeared. She did the same to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Sam said “let’s go home, beautiful.” He extended his hand and she took it. Together they walked out of the barn and towards their truck. But not before Cerys snapped her fingers, turning the entire barn and all its occupants into a huge flaming ball of destruction.


End file.
